Comelec chief: Pacquiao not yet qualified for VP in 2016

Filipino boxing champ and Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel “Manny" Pacquiao cannot push through with his plans to run for Vice-President in 2016 because his age does not qualify him for the post, Commission on Election chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Friday. “Baka naman nagbibiro lang siya. He can’t run for either Vice-President or President by 2016," he said in a phone interview on Friday. Brillantes cited provisions in the 1987 Constitution stating that a candidate must at least be 40 years old on election day before he or she can run for Vice-President. Pacquiao was born on December 17, 1978. He will only be 37 years old during the elections in May 2016. Pacquiao earlier said that he wants to run for the country’s second highest post during the 2016 elections. He added that he would be retired from boxing at that time. Article VII, Section 3 in relation to Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution however states that for a person to be elected Vice-President, he or she must be a natural-born Filipino citizen, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least 40 years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for ten years immediately prior to the elections. Pacquiao satisfies all the requirements except for the age limit. Brillantes however said Pacquiao can run for senator by 2016 because the minimum age requirement for senatorial candidates is 35. —MRT/LBG/ELR, GMA News