Pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao has declared that he is planning to run as a congressman in next year's elections, much to the chagrin of his fans. What could the uneducated Pacquiao possibly know about governing? But it might be time to re-think that position, because he could not in a million years possibly be worse than the current members of the House of Representatives. Talk about a group of people who need to be taught about governance.

A month ago, there were slight ripples in the headlines as 50 congressmen, led by House Speaker Prospero Nograles, skipped their legislative duties to go to Las Vegas to watch Pacquiao fight Ricky Hatton, presumably on government dime. They denied this, naturally, although no one believed them. The country's health department also raised the possibility of the N1H1 virus being transmitted by one of the congressmen or a member of their entourages, but the Speaker dismissed the virus as mere "hype".

Now there's an outbreak of N1H1 in the country, but unfortunately, none of the congressmen who went to Sin City went down with the flu.

Last night, the merry band of idiots in the House of Representatives, led by Nograles, railroaded a resolution to convene a constituent assembly aiming to amend the Constitution. (Clever media types have dubbed the assembly as a Con-Ass, which led to this gay porn-y headline from the Inquirer: "House rams through Con-ass resolution.")

The move was, presumably, to pave the way for the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stay in power beyond the end of her term in 2010. Constitutional scholar Joaquin Bernas called the move a gang rape of the Constitution. Apart from being one of the foremost legal experts in the country, Bernas is also a priest, so for him to compare something to gang rape must really be serious.

Of course, the Palace has denied having any hand in this, but already there are rumors that each congressman who voted for the resolution got Php20 million in pork barrel funds. That should take care of each congressman's next Vegas trip.

So basically, Manny Pacquiao can choose to run or not run for a seat in the House; either way, he can't do much worse than the congressmen already there, and at least he'd be paying his own way the next time he goes to Vegas.