[Blog #10] Manny Pacquiao

Every time Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao have a match, my family always have this small gathering (feast) and we watch it all together. In the Philippines, there is this inside joke that if Pacquiao have a fight, it’s a national holiday and a crime free day because the criminals are also watching his match. Everyone is in their houses waiting for his fight. Last Saturday night, Manny Pacquiao just finish his fight to Juan Manuel Marquez at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was an intense fight and people (even I) didn’t expect that Marquez will be that agitated and strong on the ring. Many critics say it will be a knock out for Marquez but seems like those are just predictions. The fight was until round 12 and the unexpected decision was announce; it was Pacquiao who won! We were really shock that it was him because during the whole fight it looked like Marquez was winning; we were already expecting that it will be him. But for the issue and controversy, I’ll just leave it to the people involve. Shocked and surprise I’m still happy he won.

Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao was born in Bukidnon, Philippines in the Mindanao Region. He is the fourth child among six siblings; have a wife named Maria Geraldine "Jinkee" Jamora and they were blessed with four children namely, Emmanuel Jr. "Jimuel", Michael, Princess, and Queen Elizabeth "Queenie". Manny finished his elementary education in General Santos City (where he is currently residing) but when he was in high school he was force to drop out because of extreme poverty. He was forced to work at a very young age after his father left the family for another woman. Manny Pacquiao worked in the hardcore streets of General Santos City selling breads and other bakery goods. Manny began fighting for little money in the streets. These fights were brutal but soon Manny gained a reputation (he was then called as Pacman) for being a very tough fighter showed determination when fighting opponents that were much larger than him. His mom, who was a very religious person, was not a fan of what he can do because she was expecting him to be a priest instead of a becoming a boxer. Without permission, Manny left his home at age 14 to pursue his career as a boxer in Manila. For a time he worked in construction and also in the gym where he trained doing odd jobs which included janitor. He started boxing at the age of 16 and made it to the Philippine National Amateur Boxing Team. Since then on, Manny achieve a lot success and blessings in life; he became rich and famous and now known as the Pound-for-Pound boxer. Pacquiao have 54 Wins (38 Knockouts), 3 Defeats (2 Knockouts) and 2 Draws in total with 8 world titles in boxing. During his career, he became an actor, TV host and well, a singer. His life was also shown in the theaters and was release on June 21, 2006 but the film flopped in the box office.

To pursue his education, Pacman took and passed a high school equivalency exam making him eligible for college education. He was awarded with a high school diploma by the Department of Education. Pacquiao enrolled for a college degree in business management at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University (NDDU) in his hometown in General Santos City. It was confirmed in 2009 that Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao will run as the Congressman in Saraggani, the home province of his wife, and fortunately he won.