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If there is anything that has enhanced Manny Pacquiao’s public
appeal as the country’s foremost boxing hero, it is his heart of
gold. After his devastating conquest of Mexican David Diaz in their
WBC lightweight championship fight in Las Vegas, Manny’s mind was
on the hundreds of passengers who perished in the sinking of the MV
Princess of the Stars of Romblon.
“I will give P3 million to the bereaved
families of the victims,” he said in a press interview, adding
that he would hold a fund-raising concert at which other do-gooders
may pitch in with their own contributions to help assuage the
suffering of the victims’ families.
Pacquiao’s generosity with his fight winnings
is well known. In his native General Santos City, scores of
residents made a beeline to his fabulous home for their balato
(small gifts) from the boxing icon following each victory in his
championship fights.
During Christmas, relatives, friends and
neighbors come to him for little cash gifts. Pacquiao never fails
them.
In his last three championship fights with Eric
Morales, Manuel Marquez and Diaz, Pacquiao is estimated to have
amassed about P500 million in prize money. He earned close to $5
million in his lightweight title fight with Diaz—$3 million as his
guaranteed purse and more than $1.5 million as his share from the
pay-per-view ticket sales.
He still has two or three more major fights
ahead of him, all assuring him of even richer purses. His next
fights could be with the undefeated Edwin Valero and the British
champion, Ricky Hatton. An encounter with Hatton alone is predicted
to net each fighter at least $10 million.
Pacquiao still earns several millions more as a
top endorser of Philippine products led by San Miguel beer. He has
become not only the richest Filipino boxer of all time but also the
first Filipino and Asian champion in four class divisions.
But Pacquiao has been chastened rather than
intoxicated by his string of successes in life. He has shown the
hallowed Christian virtues of humility and compassion for the poor.
It is not hard to find the reason for his
charitable impulses. Coming himself from a poor family, he knows the
miseries of the destitute. His instincts tell him to share a little
of his fortune with them.
There are several rich families in our country
but none, unlike Paacquiao, has shown the willingness to give
financial help to victims of big natural and man-made calamities.
Pacquiao is truly the exemplar of the self-made
man. To be a fight champion, he has submitted himself to the rigors
of training. He has a strong sense of self-dicipline. He was a high
school dropout, but in his determination to improve himself, he has
taken up special studies. Now he is taking up a college course after
hurdling the requirements for a high school diploma.
We laughed at his pidgin English whenever he was
interviewed after winning a fight in the past. In his last fight, he
was speaking in polished sentences. His pursuit of education is, of
course, in preparation for the future.
When he hangs up his gloves and with
ambition as his motive force, Pacquiao will be looking for other
fields to conquer. I know that his heart lies in politics, having
once attempted to seek a House seat representing GenSan.
Pacquiao is endowed with a pair of golden fists
and a golden heart. With his iron will and passion for hard work, he
may yet realize his dream to become a congressman. He faces a golden
political future.
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Global meeting on migration
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque is sending a
team to Germany to attend a five-day international conference on
global migration which begins tomorrow. Sponsored by the German
Marshall Fund of the United States, with the support of the Robert
Bosch Stiftung in Germany, the meeting will dissect the problems of
labor migration.
Roque said 24 countries will be represented in
the conference. To head the Philippine team is Merliza Makinano,
deputy executive director of the Institute for Labor Studies and
vice chef of DOLE’s Task Force on the Global Forum on Migration
and Development.
Makinano’s team is expected to bring up the
major problems affecting overseas Filipino workers today—the high
remittance fees and the weakening of the dollar vis-à-vis the peso.
In 2005, the exchange rate was P56 to a dollar. Today, the dollar
has gone down to only P45.
According to Roque, the Philippines is expected
to hit a remittance record this year estimated at $16 billion, based
on the January-to-April figure of $5.4 billion. These remittances
have become the nation’s economic lifeblood.
From January to May, the country has deployed
516,466 workers to 199 destinations worldwide. “Our OFWs need
assistance to reduce the cost of sending money to their families,”
Roque said.
agr0324@yahoo.com
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