Boxing great Manny Pacquiao spent decades fighting opponents in the ring. Now, the Filipino sports icon is taking on a different and more enduring adversary: poverty.
Pacquiao joined President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet on Tuesday as head of the government’s anti-poverty agency, pledging to help Filipinos struggling with hardships he knows from personal experience.
The 47-year-old former senator was appointed lead convener of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, marking his first Cabinet post after a long political career that included service in Congress and the Senate.
His political journey has also included an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2022 and a failed attempt to return to the Senate in 2025 as part of a Marcos-backed ticket.
As NAPC chief, Pacquiao will coordinate government efforts to reduce poverty, an issue he said he understands firsthand.
"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," Pacquiao said in a statement.
Pacquiao, who grew up in poverty, worked as a ship stowaway and fought on the streets as a boy, earning $2 per fight. His net worth was estimated at $220 million last year, according to Sports Illustrated.
He takes over the anti-poverty agency as the Marcos administration seeks to reduce the poverty rate to 8% to 9% by 2028. Government data showed the rate fell to 9.7% in 2025, equivalent to about 11.08 million Filipinos living below the poverty line.
The only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, Pacquiao remains one of the Philippines’ most revered sporting figures. His biggest fights have drawn everyone from presidents and Hollywood stars to ordinary Filipinos, often bringing the nation of 119 million people to a standstill.
The southpaw retired in 2021 but returned to the ring in July 2025 to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship in Las Vegas. Pacquiao was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2025.
