EDITORIAL - “President Pacquiao”

Because of the constitutional requirement that a president must be at least 40 years old on the day of his election, there is no way boxing icon and Sarangani congressman Manny Pacquiao can be allowed to run for the position in 2016. He will only be 37 by then.

The furor over Pacquiao's presidential ambitions surfaced when he said in an interview that he plans to run for president. Pacquiao now says he was misquoted, probably because it was not made clear in the resulting story whether he intended to run in 2016 or in some other future presidential election.

What probably happened was when Pacquiao confirmed his presidential ambitions, it was promptly assumed he meant 2016, since that is the closest presidential election date, which was a big mistake since it was not the first time he made the same disclosure. At the time, he was also rebuffed on the age requirement.

What is crystal clear, however, is that Pacquiao does harbor presidential ambitions. Mentioning the same intention twice already leaves no more room for ambiguity. The guy does want to be president somebody. So the question should no longer be if or when but rather why or why not.

The why is, of course, easier to answer. Like the proverbial Everest that people climb because it is there, Pacquiao also wants to be president because it is there. Aside from the age requirement blocking his way in 2016, it is there for his taking some other time if the Filipino people allow him.

And that brings us to the why not. To be sure, there will be a Mount Everest of reasons why people would argue against his becoming president. On the other hand, there will be the same Mount Everest of reasons why he can, or must.

The Constitution itself leaves very little room for his disqualification -- he is a natural born Filipino citizen who has resided all his life in the Philippines, is of legal age (except in 2016), and is able to read and write.

The only stumbling block to his ambitions is if the Comelec, which is fond of inventing reasons all its own, declared Pacquiao a nut. But how can a man who used to be admired by millions all over the globe be a nut? Clearly, all that Pacquiao needs to do is decide, and then there will be no stopping him from running.

There is a whale of a difference, however, between running and winning. But then again who knows? This country is not exactly famous for its electoral choices. A quick look at the colorful personalities that have made leader in this country and Pacquiao cannot be worse than any of them.