Alberto "Bobby" Dapidran Pacquiao (locally[pɐkˈjaʊ]; born April 23, 1980) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2008.[2] In the super featherweight division, he held the Philippine Games and Amusements Board (GAB) title from 2002 to 2004 and the WBC Continental Americas title from 2005 until his 2006 disqualification loss to Héctor Velázquez for repeated low blows. Moving up to the lightweight division, he won the WBO Asia-Pacific title in 2008.
Before a match held on November 16, 2006, to defend his title against Héctor Velázquez, Pacquiao was stripped of his title for being three pounds over the weight limit. Although the title had already been declared vacant, the fight proceeded as scheduled. During the fight, referee Kenny Bayless warned Pacquiao repeatedly for low blows before disqualifying him in the eleventh round.[5]
He made his lightweight debut on June 9, 2007, where he fought soon-to-be WBC super-featherweight championHumberto Soto in a ten-round bout. After sustaining a cut that impaired his vision, Pacquiao was knocked out in round seven.
Following three bouts in the lightweight division, he knocked out Decho Bankluaygym in eight rounds on August 2, 2008, for the WBO Asia-Pacific lightweight title.[6]
On May 27, 2014, it was reported that he was among those who tried out for KIA Motors, which is coached by his brother Manny Pacquiao.[13] Asked if he would select Bobby, his brother answered that it would be too big of a favor to give.[14] On July 26, 2014, in an interview with Snow Badua, Pacquiao revealed that he would no longer apply for the 2014 PBA draft, focusing instead on a possible stint with the family-supported Countrywide Basketball League (CWBL) franchise.[15]
MP Hotel (PBA D-League)
After the CWBL failed to materialize due to financial difficulties, he was then assigned as the team manager of Manny Pacquiao's PBA D-League franchise. On the team's debut, they were handed a 27-point loss by Cafe France led by Maverick Ahanmisi who had ten points.[16] The team last competed on the 2015 PBA D-League Foundation Cup.
Other leagues
In 2011, he and his brother Manny played for the MP Warriors in the Manny Pacquiao Basketball Cup, which featured teams such as BBEAL champion University of Baguio, runner-up University of the Cordilleras, Cordillera College from La Trinidad, Chesaa 2011 men's basketball champion Baguio College of Technology. On one of the games, he scored 10 points while Manny scored 124. The tournament was staged in the middle of Manny Pacquiao's preparation against Shane Mosley.[17]
In March 2013, his team the MP Warriors, then coached by Arvin Bonleon, won a P300,000 prize after defeating the Celebrity team led by Gerald Anderson.[18]
In 2014, the MP Warriors ruled the Kalilangan Festival Commercial basketball league in February by beating Kadayawan sa Dabaw Invitational Commercial champion Gold Star Davao. Pacquiao's team also finished first runner-up in the Araw ng Dabaw Invitational Open league in March.[19]
Politics
In the 2013 barangay elections, Pacquiao sought a seat in the village council of Labangal in General Santos, where his wife Lorelei was the chairperson. He won and became village councilor while his wife was re-elected as chairman.[20][21] He ran under the People's Champ Movement (PCM), a local political party founded by Manny Pacquiao. In the 2016 elections, he sought a position in the city council of General Santos and finished 2nd among 36 candidates with 95,052 votes, subsequently being proclaimed one of the 12 councilors of the city.[22]
House of Representatives (2019–2022)
For the 2019 general election, he was nominated by OFW Family Club, a political organization seeking party-list representation in the House of Representatives for overseas Filipino workers, as their first nominee.[23] The group received only 200,881 votes, amounting to 0.72% of the national vote, which did not meet the 2% threshold required for an automatic seat allocation. However, as not all 59 seats were filled through this method, the remaining seats were distributed to parties that, although below the threshold, had garnered sufficient votes to secure a place among the top. OFW Family Club was included, albeit positioned near the end of the allocation, leading to Pacquiao being proclaimed as a member of the House of Representatives.[24]
Pacquiao sought re-election in 2022; however, OFW Family Club only garnered 93,059 votes, constituting 0.25% of the national vote and placing 109th in the election results.
Return to local politics
In the 2023 barangay elections, Pacquiao vied for the position of barangay chairman of Labangal, a role previously held by his wife before her election as mayor of General Santos in 2022. He secured a landslide victory, garnering 17,873 votes against his lone opponent, Ramon Ciocon, who received only 1,241 votes.[25][26] He then returned to the city council as an ex-officio member by virtue of being elected president of the city' Liga ng mga Barangay (LNB; English: Association of Barangay Councils (ABC))[27]
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