Can Pacquiao still fight?

Eight-division boxing legend Manny Pacquiao accepted a secretary position recently from Malacañang.

That left me wondering about one thing.

You see, Pacquiao hasn’t announced his retirement and is, in fact, was in the thick of negotiations to face old rival Floyd Mayweather.

That fight — a rematch to their May 2025 megabuck matchup — is being targeted for 2027.

One more thing, though.

Just before he took the job of anti-poverty chief, Pacquiao was rumored to be in talks to fight American Shakur Stevenson towards late-November in the United States.

Hmmm.

I would certainly like to know if Pacquiao, the country’s greatest athlete ever, will be permitted to engage in a fight while holding a secretary position in the government.

Of course, when he was still a congressman and a senator, he did fight several times, mostly in the United States.

Are rules different when it comes to an elected official and an appointed one?

But you know, I am sure Pacquiao’s handlers and his think-tank were aware of what the Filipino southpaw was entering into when he gladly accepted the appointment.

Knowing Pacquiao, he is a guy who won’t hesitate to serve the people.

If there is one man who knows what it feels like to be poor and deprived, that fellow is Manny Pacquiao.

I remember one time during one of our press-promo tours across the States, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum once told an assembly of mediamen that Pacquiao is the Philippines’ social security.

That’s very true.

You usually don’t appoint to that position a guy who was never poor once in his life.

In Pacquiao, you got the perfect pick.

But it doesn’t follow that Pacquiao would be giving out dole-outs like he usually does while the anti-poverty secretary.

And that’s another story.

The pressing question now is whether he could return to the ring once more since he holds a pivotal position in the Cabinet.

Perhaps, when he accepted the post, he already had an arrangement with Malacañang that he would be allowed to box.

I wonder what the constitution says about this.