Filipinos attract special attention in US because of Manny Pacquiao

By Alex P. Vidal / PNS
March 18, 2008

LAS VEGAS – Anywhere you go in the United States nowadays where there is large Filipino community, the archipelago composed of 7,100 islands, is prominently mentioned and is associated positively with boxing heartthrob Manny Pacquiao. And despite the political turbulence back home whipped up by the ZTE-NBN broadband scandal, any Filipino is so proud to be identified as compatriot of the 29-year-old challenger for the World Boxing Council (WBC) superfeatherweight crown of Juan Manuel Marquez.

"No Filipino has done what Manny Pacquiao did to our country even in the next 100 years," commented Allan Recto, a Texas-based doctor and personal friend of the Pacquiao couple. "His win will definitely unite everyone in the Philippines because of his popularity."

Rey Golingan, a businessman and boxing impresario from General Sanrtos City, who is also Pacquiao's wedding godfather, said the popularity of Pacquiao among the Americans and Mexicans is phenomenal.

"He is one of the most prized and sought after VIPs in Las Vegas today," observed the 64-year-old Golingan, who joined the Pacquiao husband and wife in praying the rosary on Friday evening inside the couple's suite room on the 61st floor several hours after the boxer tipped the scale at 129 lbs during the official weigh-in ceremony at the events center of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

A special mass was to be held in the morning of March 15 inside Pacquiao's room to be officiated by Fr. Bernardo Beop who arrived from New York.

Even in the Strip of this glitzy city known as entertainment capital of the world, Filipinos are easily recognized for being "compatriots of Manny Pacquiao" and are asked to say something about the rematch dubbed as "Unfinished Business".

"We Filipinos are getting the kind of respect we never experienced before only because of Manny Pacquiao," said James "Tata" Yap, a board member from Saranggani Province, who arrived here together with Pacquiao's brother Ruel, president of MP Promotions.