Two days ago, the Philippines once again was put on the global history spot. This is when the country's boxing hero, Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao fought over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. It is a normal for the government to declare office hour break every time Pacquiao fights on the ring. But this time its extra special. The government declared a 7 hour ceasefire over communist groups in Mindanao just because of Pacquiao.
I still remember last year when Pacquiao fought with another Mexican, Solis, the National Police reported that for the first time in the Philippine history, the crime rate fell to 0% for 6 hours. It means for the duration of Pacquiao's whole fight, there were no crimes committed in any form in the country. That is how people love Pacman. They will support him in everyway they can even with just sitting there and supporting him.
Manny Pacquiao is from General Santos City, the tuna capital of the Philippines and of Asia. Its a rich city whereas the local government set up a big screen on the city plaza for everyone to watch, live via satellite. Manny Pacquiao alone is considered as one of the richest Filipino athlete, garnering of about Php900 million wealth. But you can still see the roots of his clan from being farmers and fishermen being he stayed humble and kept his feet on the ground.
Maybe that is one of the reasons why the people love Pacman, a great athlete, a supreme boxer, a hero and still a human unlike the others who already forgot their roots and even where they came from.
Truly, Pacman deserves the honor and respect from his fellow Filipinos. And I myself admired him very much.