INQUIRER Global Nation

CALIFORNIA, United States?I used to live and work as a TV reporter in Big D. That?s the sobriquet American men and women of letters have given to Dallas?not Davao.

In Davao, I?d be lost. In Dallas, they thought I was Mexican.

But Dallas has another distinction in the annals of American Filipino history.

In 1980, Marcos exiled his nagging nemesis, the human rights and Filipino freedom fighter, Senator Benigno ?Ninoy? Aquino. Ninoy had a heart condition and wound up in a Dallas hospital for surgery. That?s when I met him, just a few years before he was assassinated on his eventual return to the Philippines.

Thirty years later, another Filipino politician is in Dallas and should make history.

The politician is the boxer Manny Pacquiao. I hope it?s his last fight.

Don?t get me wrong. I think Pacquiao will whip Joshua Clottey. Clottey was robbed when he fought Miguel Cotto and this fight will be tough. But Pacquiao demolished Cotto, ergo?

Still, the point is I want Pacquiao to stop fighting, win, lose, or draw.

With a record of 50-3-2, with 38 knockouts, Pacquiao has weathered more knocks than a Manila jeepney. After an incredible run the last two years his fame has skyrocketed after beating De La Hoya, Marquez, Hatton, and Cotto, going up in weight class each time. Who does he need to beat and at what weight class next?Oprah?

What?s left to prove? That a Filipino boxer can avoid dementia before reaching his 60th birthday?

Bang your head against the wall a few times to replicate the punishing grind of a boxer. Tough way to make a few millions.

Certainly, Pacquiao?s made enough money and has enough fame. He doesn?t need to put his health and his future on the line the way he did when he was just another poor kid with two fists and a prayer.

Besides there?s bigger tuyo to fry?as a Philippine congressman.

"Boxing is different than politics. Politics is more in service,? Pacquiao said to a reporter last week. ?I want to be a good public servant. I want to help people.?

I don?t doubt new dream. But Pacman?s handlers wonder if a man at the height of his athletic career is walking away from a good thing.

Don?t listen to them Manny. Make this your last fight.

"It could be our last fight, sure," Freddie Roach, Pacquiao?s trainer told the AP last week. "I don't think it will, but it could definitely work out that way."

Let?s hope so. Manny should go out a champ. But the real question is if Manny does continue fighting, can he be effective as a Congressman Boxer? (Not to be confused with Barbara Boxer, who is a US Senator, but not a boxer).

"If he gets elected, I'm sure he'll still get time off for training camp," Roach reportedly said. "The government shuts down when he fights anyway. The terrorists call a treaty and stop fighting. I think I could get him away for eight weeks."

Obviously, Roach doesn?t want to give up the idea of his own big payday, a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight.

But I have.

If Manny feels ?called,? he should leave the ring after this Saturday.

His bigger fight is to restore faith among Filipinos in their government.

In San Francisco, a group of overseas Filipinos are concerned. But in their view, the only way to restore democracy in the Philippines is to tap into the brand that remains the enduring contribution of the Philippines to political history?the People Power legacy of Corazon Aquino and her late husband, Ninoy.

The situation is dire. More than two decades after the People Power revolution, the Philippines is a mess.

How do you explain a democracy where private armies are necessary to prevent voter fraud? Or where communist rebels counteract private armies with their own extortionist ways: electoral favors for protection from private armies or the rebels themselves. It?s comprehensive coverage. The rebels call it a ?tax.? The government can only do what a good bureaucracy can do. It writes a report about it and shrugs.

What happened to the People Power that could end a dictatorship? It remains passive to the violence of the political bullies and hacks who remain in power.

That?s why a growing segment among Filipinos in America see hope in Benigno Aquino Jr., known as ?Noynoy,? a senator in the Philippines. Supporters believe in the Aquino legacy and the brand.

Who else is there? In the absence of leadership (as oligarchs tend to eat their young), no one inspiring has emerged.

Ironically, at a recent rally of Filipinos in San Francisco?s Union Square, as some speakers praised Noynoy, the only real Filipino brand that might be able to unite the whole RP was looking down on the proceedings as if a god.

On a massive billboard high above the square was an ad for athletic gear, and the image of Manny Pacquiao.

Noynoy may be the legacy, but Manny may be the brand that could save the Philippines. Like Obama, he has a rock star?s charisma. With his rags to riches story, and his yearning to serve, Pacquiao embodies the true spirit of People Power.

Remember, Dallas is where Ninoy Aquino had heart surgery in 1980 while in exile. On Saturday, it could be where a boxing career ends and the heart of a political career comes into focus.

It won?t suddenly happen overnight. The RP Congress is just the first step, and a proving ground, like fighting an easy palooka from Peoria. But if Pacquiao can rise up in weight class in boxing, perhaps he can do the same in real life. How does the fairy tale go? Not with a Mayweather bout. If he?s sincere about service to the people and to politics, Pacquiao?s main event is against the Philippine oligarchs.