It's still just the weigh-in stare-down, and Manny is now upset?

Former boxer and now senator Manny Pacquiao is threatening to file criminal charges, if he has not done so already, against a former friend, Jayke Joson for allegedly claiming that Pacquiao pocketed ₱165 million from an aborted fight against Conor McGregor in Las Vegas. Pacquiao has denied the allegation. He should leave it at that.

Pacquiao is running for president in the May 2022 elections. He is one of five or six with any real chance of winning among 97 candidates. He should be smart enough to know that getting accused of anything and everything comes with the territory he is about to enter. If he cannot stand the heat when he is not yet even in the kitchen but just by the door smelling the pork chops, then he better not enter.

Getting angry is of course understandable for someone who has known only love and respect for his exploits in the ring. Indeed, this love and respect carried over to when he was already a senator. People were apparently willing to overlook his lackluster performance and frequent and prolonged absences in the Senate for as long as he kept bringing glory and pride to country and people from boxing.

But the presidency is an entirely different arena. For one thing, Pacquiao cannot keep on boxing if he wins as president. It would be a most ridiculous spectacle, to say the least, if as President Pacquiao would continue to box. It is therefore good that he has announced his retirement from the sport. The thing is, the love and respect that was his from boxing will not carry over to the presidency as it did for him as senator.

As president, the only real perk is in not getting sued for the duration of the six-year term. Everything else is fair game. And the president cannot hit back, the way Cory Aquino ignominiously did when she sued The Philippine STAR columnist Louie Beltran for libel and even sought damages. If Pacquiao as president tries to retaliate, he will have Maria Ressa in no time at his back, with an eye for an unprecedented second Nobel Prize.

Pacquiao therefore should have the good sense not to involve himself in any ugly legal imbroglio over an accusation that he can quite easily deny and disprove just by saying so. This close to the election and Pacquiao still does not get it? That is a demolition job if there was one. Pacquiao can do better by ignoring it. That is not the fight he must steel himself for.

The real fight of his life is when he becomes president. The presidency is more like facing 110 million Juan Manuel Marquezes. Blink once and you're like, dead. Even the wifey, er "First Lady," could get the kitchen sink on the chin, collateral damage for no reason more frivolous than her big-lettered flights of fancy, which she will have to chuck anyway when the family makes the "big" move from mansion to palace.

There will be more to come, Pacquiao can be sure of that. And it will not just be from former friends. Politics is truly a dirty game. Which is why many are perplexed why Pacquiao, who for many years lived off the street, had barely anything to eat, turned his life around literally through blood, sweat and tears to become one of the richest and most famous men in the country, would risk everything again for the presidency.

For patriotism, wanting to help the poor? Alas that is the opium that drives the delusion. My barber is no less a patriot and willing to help the poor, even if he is just a barber. Pacquiao can do more for country and people just by being Pacquiao. Giving away money like he did in Batangas was easy as eating Cerelac. By being president, Pacquiao only invites trouble for himself and his family and, worse, becomes a problem for his country and his people.