Philippines’ Pacquiao Takes His Fight Against Poverty to Marcos Cabinet

Manny Pacquiao spent decades fighting in the ring. Now the Filipino sports icon says his next opponent is poverty.

Pacquiao joined President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet on Sept. 8 as lead convener of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, his first Cabinet post after a long political career. He previously served in Congress and the Senate, ran unsuccessfully for president in 2022 and failed to return to the Senate in 2025 on a ticket backed by Marcos’ administration.

The former senator said his personal history would shape his work. “I came from poverty. I experienced sleeping on cardboard on the streets, drinking only water, having nothing to eat, and saving loose coins just to help my family,” he said in a statement.

Pacquiao worked as a ship stowaway and fought on the streets as a boy, earning US$2 per fight. He later became the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions. He retired in 2021, returned to the ring in July 2025 to challenge Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship in Las Vegas, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame that year.

The anti-poverty agency coordinates government efforts to reduce poverty. The Marcos administration aims to lower poverty incidence to 8% to 9% by 2028. Government data put the rate at 9.7% in 2025, representing about 11.08 million people below the poverty line.

Pacquiao remains one of the Philippines’ most revered sporting figures. His biggest fights have drawn presidents, Hollywood stars and ordinary Filipinos, sometimes bringing the country to a standstill. He joins the Cabinet with that public profile behind him as he takes on a problem he says he knows firsthand.

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I came from poverty. I experienced sleeping on cardboard on the streets, drinking only water, having nothing to eat, and saving loose coins just to help my family.