EDITORIAL - Pacquiao oblivious to past lessons

The cancellation, due to low ticket sales, of a scheduled concert by Manny Pacquiao in Hawaii following his boring but unanimous decision victory over Ghanaian fighter Joshua Clottey in Texas is the latest in a series of instructive events in the life of the Filipino boxer.

Three years ago, Pacquiao ran for congressman in General Santos City but lost miserably to the then incumbent representative Darlene Antonino Custodio. The repudiation should have told Pacquiao that people in his hometown preferred him as a ring idol than as a politician.

Prior to his fight with Clottey, a movie that hoped to cash in on his immense popularity bombed terribly at the box office, telling him yet once again that people would rather see him showcase his talents inside the roped-in canvass than on the silver screen.

Then, on his way home after the Clottey fight, he was supposed to drop by Hawaii to do a concert but promoters scrapped the show on account of dismal ticket sales. Again the people were trying to tell him that while his punches had deadly rhythm, his singing voice did not.

Now he is soon to embark on yet another foray into politics, this time in Sarangani, his adopted town, the hometown of his wife. This time his opponent is a first-timer, although from an established political clan. This time too, Pacquiao comes in more loaded than before.

After a string of huge victories against some of the best fighters in the world, there is little doubt as to the capability of Pacquiao to bankroll an effective campaign. Whether people are now more willing than before to make him their congressman is an entirely different matter.

It is too early to predict an outcome. Pacquiao has not even begun to start doing the rounds. Given his popularity, though, doing the rounds is the least of his worries. With that and a huge war chest, maybe Pacquiao can overturn a dismal record outside the ring.

But if he loses, Pacquiao cannot go on forever being oblivious to what people have been trying to say to him for many years -- that what he is in the ring is not necessarily the same as what he is outside it.

Just like his disgraced singing career, just because people can tolerate his creepy voice does not mean they are actually going to pay good money just to hear it. Just like politics. Just because people mob him doesn't mean they are voting for him. Or are they?