High & Inside: The People's Champ

MANNY PACQUIAO ALREADY holds seven world boxing titles. Now, he wants to hold political office.

The 31-year-old boxer is running for a seat in the Philippines Congress as a member of his own party, the People's Champ Movement.

"I don't want to be just your boxing idol," he told a crowd in San Miguel recently. "I also want be your idol in public service."

Pacquiao, who has said his family was very poor when he was growing up, is now a millionaire many times over. In March, he made more than $12 million in a win over Joshua Clottey. In 2008, he took home a cool $30 million for defeating Oscar De La Hoya.

"I could just sit back and relax and not have anything to do with politics. I could just travel around and enjoy my life with my family," Pacquiao said. "But I came from a very poor family, and I cannot turn my back on the poor."

One-third of the population lives on $1 a day. But, Pacquiao, who lost a congressional election in 2007, isn't making any grand promises.

Instead, he's taking a practical approach.

For example, he has said that if he wins the May 10 election, he will fight to have the government provide financing for neighborhood businesses.

"The reason why so many people are poor is that politicians think of nothing except how to recover the money they spent during the elections," he said.

Hmmm. Politicians in the Philippines sound a lot like those in the United States.

Last week, Tiger Woods agreed to play in the AT & T National, which will be held from July 1-4 a Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square.

On Sunday, someone placed an ad on Craigslist offering to rent their house for the week of the tournament. According to the post, which cautions that only serious offers will be considered, the home backs up to the course and is a "modern three bedroom, 2.5 bath but does NOT have central air conditioning."

No central air? Sounds like a HOT deal to us.

- Tom Mahon

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