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Manny Pacquiao is back in government. The former senator and boxing champion was sworn in Tuesday as secretary and lead convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), taking his oath before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Malacañang Palace. Cabinet Secretary Benhur Abalos was among those present.
President Marcos chairs the NAPC in his capacity as head of state, but day-to-day leadership of the commission’s secretariat now falls to Pacquiao. He steps into the post previously held by Lope Santos III.
A Cabinet-level appointment
The role carries real institutional weight. Under Republic Act No. 8425, the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act, whoever serves as NAPC lead convenor automatically holds the rank of Cabinet secretary. That means Pacquiao now sits in Marcos’ Cabinet.
The move follows Executive Order No. 123, signed by Marcos, which shifted oversight of both the NAPC and the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor away from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and placed it directly under the Office of the President.
What the NAPC actually does
Few government bodies have as broad a mandate on paper. Created under the same 1998 law, the NAPC exists to link poverty-reduction efforts across national agencies, local governments and the private sector — tracking how well anti-poverty programmes are working, proposing policy fixes, and making sure that marginalised communities have an actual seat at the table when those policies are drafted. It also has a say in how resources get allocated toward social reform initiatives.
Four years after leaving the Senate
This is Pacquiao’s first government role since his Senate term expired in June 2022. His attempt to reclaim a Senate seat in last year’s midterms running on Marcos’ preferred slate fell short.
It’s worth noting his new post is entirely separate from that of Larry Gadon, who already serves as Marcos’ presidential adviser on poverty alleviation. The two men now occupy different corners of the same policy space.
Gadon, for his part, welcomed the appointment. He called the timing fitting, given the administration’s renewed push to bring down poverty rates, adding that the NAPC, “with the right direction”, could meaningfully accelerate those efforts.
