The 38-year-old Filipino, who is an army reservist and previously held the role of lieutenant colonel, posted a series of pictures on Instagram in his army fatigues.
"Today, I successfully defended my commandant's paper to be promoted to a full Colonel," he wrote.
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Pacquiao, who is a senator in the Philippines, lost his WBO world welterweight title in a shock defeat by Australian Jeff Horn in July.
Pacquiao first entered the Army’s reserve force in 2006 in conjunction with his boxing and political career.