Manny Pacquiao for President

The 40-year-old boxer, who remains a hero in his homeland, has even been considered a top contender for the Philippine presidential elections in 2022 by none other than incumbent Rodrigo Duterte, who has announced in the past that he intends to make Pacquiao his successor.

This whole week leading up to his comeback fight Pacquiao has been answering questions about his new life as a senator and support of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, whose ultraviolent war on drugs, affection for extrajudicial killings, affiliations with anti-narcotic death squads, and self-confessed similarity to Adolf Hitler have made him the most-hated man among the international community’s human rights advocates. All the while Pacquiao has been supportive of his old friend, leading the charge in the senate for the reinstatement of the death penalty for drug dealers and ousting the chair of the committee tasked with investigating Duterte’s connection to violent vigilante groups.

Manny Pacquiao has been considered a top contender for the Philippines presidency since he became a member of the senate and talk of him becoming leader of his country has picked up steam again.

Duterte said during Pacquiao’s 39th birthday bash in 2017 that the Filipino icon would make an ideal president. “I told him when we were alone, I want him to become president,” Duterte said in 2017.

“You have brought so much pride and joy to our country for being the world champion in the field of boxing,” Duterte said of the fighting senator.

But even first-term senators devoted to murderous tyrants with a discipline fetish have their limits. And apparently Pacquiao’s came this week, after Duterte’s long nose-thumbing campaign against the United States and President Barack Obama (who Duterte called a “son of a bitch” in September and told to “go to hell” in October) culminated with his calling for the removal of all U.S. troops and military bases from the Philippines and blowing off reports that the U.S. will halt the sale of 24,000 guns to his government’s national police over Duterte’s approach to fighting drugs by calling American leaders “monkeys” and “fools” and saying he’ll just get those guns from someone else, like Russia.

“Being a public servant is different from sports. It’s more on the mind and a lot of problems, thinking about how to solve those problems in the country, and also to provide solution to those problems.”

Just last month, a reporter asked if he would still continue boxing if he became president. Pacquiao replied: “I hope so.”

Kakainin kita ng buhay!

“Alam mo kaya kong kumain ng tao. Talagang buksan ko ‘yang katawan mo, bigyan mo ako suka’t asin, kakainin kita. Oo, totoo.”

President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to do a Hannibal Lecter if he comes face to face with the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in yet another grim warning against the bandits.

In yet another exaggeration to express his contempt for the notorious ISIS-affiliated terrorist cell who initially claimed but later denied responsibility for the Davao City blast that killed 14 people and injured more than 60 other last week, Duterte told a Filipino community gathering in Laos on Tuesday:

He also pleaded more time from the people to finally eradicate the ASG which is being blamed for the series of kidnappings and beheading of hostages in Mindanao over the past months.

At the same time, he warned Abu Sayyaf: “Sige lang, bomba lang kayo nang bomba. Pagdating ng panahon, kakainin ko kayo sa harap ng tao. I will devour you if I have to erase you.” He added he will stop at nothing until not a single coconut tree is standing in Sulu, the terrorist’s major hideout.

He said there is no other politicians at the moment capable of defeating the ASG other than him.

“Sinong p’wedeng mag-Presidente? Kaya nila ‘yan, kumain ng tao? Oo. Ako, pag galitin mo ako, sa totoo lang. I will eat you alive. Raw,” he said.

[Who else can be president? Can they eat humans too, like me? Yes, if you provoke me, I will eat you alive. Raw.]

The acid-tongued Duterte, known for his profanity-laden speeches and exaggerations, has recently earned the ire of US President Barack Obama whom he vowed to curse at if the latter raises the issue of war on drugs and extrajudicial killings in the ASEAN summit in Laos.

Duterte has since expressed regrets over his “strong comments” against Obama; saying it was not meant as a personal attack on the US leader.