Manny Pacquiao was 10 years old when he left school.
He sold bread on the streets of the Philippines so his family could eat. Decades later, he became the only boxer in history to win championships in eight different weight divisions.
He served in Congress and the Senate, and even tried to become president. He lost that election in 2022, as well as his attempt to return to the Senate in 2025.
But on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave him a position he had never held before: his first Cabinet post.
Pacquiao, 47, took office as head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, with the rank of a cabinet minister. He will be the direct link between the president and 14 vulnerable sectors.
The government seeks to reduce poverty to 8-9% by 2028, in a country where more than 11 million people currently suffer from it. The man who once had nothing now decides how everything is distributed.