BACOLOD Representative Monico Puentevella said Wednesday he will no longer watch the boxing match of Manny Pacquiao live in Las Vegas, Nevada this November 14.

In a statement, Puentevella said he will instead donate the money to those affected by the fire that recently hit Barangay 19 in Bacolod City.

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"I believe it is but fitting and proper that the personal money that I will be spending for the trip will instead be channeled to the relief and rehabilitation efforts of my congressional district office for those badly affected by the November 2 fire," said Puentevella.

More than 60 houses were ravaged by the three-hour fire leaving 17 dead including an 11-month old baby.

The Bacolod lawmaker is known to be at the side of Pacquiao whenever he travels abroad for a match.

Iloilo 3rd District Representative Arthur Defensor earlier urged his fellow congressmen to skip Pacquiao's fight as session will resume on November 9.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes also criticized politicians who would watch the fight live especially that the country was recently hit by four typhoons in five weeks.

The bishop said lawmakers should settle in watching Pacquiao's fight on their television sets.

Puentevella meanwhile still offers all his support to Pacquiao and has asked all the Filipinos to support and rally behind the boxing champ.

He also called on Filipinos to continue praying for the victims of the Bacolod fire.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles is also known as one of the avid supporters of the boxing icon and in fact has never missed a single fight.

Nograles is now in Washington to meet with his counterpart US House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

As of this writing Wednesday, Nograles has not said whether he will attend the bout or not.

Pacquiao will go head-to-head with Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto on November 14.

Can't bar any official

In Malacanang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Malacañang could only advise government officials to consider watching the fight of Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao on television instead of traveling to the US to watch it live amid the recent calamities that hit the country.

Ermita added that they could not even bar any official, who may go on official leave, from spending their time to watch the fight.

He said all they could do is to remind everyone, including those in charge of approving travel orders and leave to be stricter in their duties being conscious that these leaves and travels "should not just spend it for the purpose of watching such an activity."

He said they should also be sensitive about the developments in the country especially after the series of typhoons and ensure that they are not using government resources for personal purposes.

Reports said some Cabinet officials like deputy national security adviser Luis Singson went on leave for a supposed medical check up abroad. He'll still be in the US when Pacquiao's boxing match with Puerto Rican champion Miguel Cotto is held on November 14.

But Ermita said he is not aware about Singson's plans as stressed that Cabinet members, including elected officials, are entitled to seek official leave.

"That is one of the reasons that they can submit, they can go on leave, they're entitled, they already earned that, so that's one reason," he said.

Deputy Presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo, for her part, reminded elected officials especially those from Congress about the possible work that they would leave behind while abroad like the pending important bills and the need to attend to the plight of their constituents.

Fajardo stressed that they could not stop anyone from watching the fight in the US especially if they are spending their private money.

She also said moral support for Pacquiao could be shown through other means instead of watching it at the ringside.

Political ads

There are no obstacles for politicians who are looking to place advertisement in the Pacquiao-Cotte match.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez reiterated that they have no control over the move of politicians to use the boxing match in airing their infomercials, which has been tagged as a form of premature campaigning.

"I don't see how we can (regulate) because prior to actual filing of Certificate of Candidacy (COC), we don't really have jurisdiction on the matter. At this point, we can treat them as private citizens and they can do whatever they want," he said.

Jimenez noted that the boxing fight will be shown days before the period for filing of COC, which will start on November 20 up to December 1.

"It's the filing of the COC that is essentially the threshold. That's when we say that the Comelec has authority to regulate your public appearances especially with regards to your campaign. But before that, it's really free expression," the poll official said.

In Pacquiao's previous fights, some political advertisements have been shown during commercial gaps of the telecast.

Some groups are questioning the infomercials noting that it violates election laws as these politicians, who are eyeing positions in the May 2010 polls, are in a way campaigning outside what is allowed by law.

The campaign period starts from February 9, 2010 to May 8, 2010.

Under the law, (Section 85 of the Omnibus Election Code) prohibits the show or display publicly of any advertisement or propaganda for or against any candidate by means of cinematography, audio-visual units or other screen projections outside the designated campaign period. (Kathrina Alvarez/JMR/FP/Sunnex)