The popular ‘Pacman’ dedicated his fight at Macau’s Venetian hotel and casino to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan
Filipino officials were hoping that the spirits of Typhoon Haiya’s victims would be raised by watching Congressman Manny Pacquiao fight Brandon Rios in Macau. And so they were when the Pacman won.
BOXING HERO’S BOOST FOR TYPHOON VICTIMS: THOUSANDS WATCH MANNY PACQUIAO’S VICTORY IN WORLD TITLE FIGHT ON BIG SCREENS SET UP BY OFFICIALS
Officials hoped watching the fight would inspire the typhoon survivors
Mail Online
November 24, 2013
Thousands of survivors of Typhoon Haiyan erupted into wild cheers Sunday to celebrate Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao’s victory, giving them a brief respite from the enormous destruction that the storm brought to the Philippines.
‘It felt like I got my house back,’ said street sweeper Ardel Nebasa, who lost his home in tsunami-like storm surges that ravaged the city of Tacloban on November 8.
Officials were hoping that watching Pacquiao’s bout against American Brandon Rios in Macau would help traumatized survivors take their minds off the devastation wrought by the typhoon and inspire them to pick up the pieces from the storm, which killed more than 5,200 people.
Many jumped repeatedly in joy as they cheered on Pacquiao, who won by unanimous decision to take the WBO international welterweight title.
‘I was so happy and I wanted to cry, but there were too many people,’ said Nebasa, who watched the match with his son and thousands of others on a TV screen set up in a public plaza in Tacloban.
‘It would have felt like another storm has hit if he lost,’ Nebasa said.
Another survivor waved a cardboard placard that read: ‘We’re for Pacquiao, God bless, Tacloban will rise again.’
Residents also cheered at Tacloban’s seaside Astrodome stadium, where they watched the fight on a giant screen, their view partly obscured by the light filtering through holes in the ceiling. One man carried a Philippine flag.
Pacquiao dedicated his comeback fight to Haiyan victims and promised to visit Tacloban and outlying regions that the typhoon turned into a corpse-strewn wasteland.
Interviewed by Manila’s DZBB radio network after his victory, Pacquiao thanked the Filipino people, particularly the typhoon survivors who prayed for him. ‘The honour is for you,’ he said.
President Benigno Aquino III’s spokesman, Herminio Coloma, said Pacquiao ‘once again united the hearts and mind of our countrymen who are facing intense challenges brought by a series of tragedies that have befallen our country’.
When the bell rang to signal the end of the 12-round match, many spectators in Tacloban threw their baseball caps, shirts and pieces of cardboard into the air, even before the result was officially announced.
Tacloban city folk, Nebasa said, would gladly await the visit of Pacquiao, who rose from poverty to become one of the world’s highest-paid athletes.
‘We’ll be thankful if he can help us,’ Nebasa said. ‘He came from the ranks of the poor and we identify with him and are happy for his triumphs.’
Hundreds of typhoon survivors and aid workers, as well as several U.S. Navy personnel, watched the bout in a grandstand at Manila’s Villamor air base.
In Macau, the 13,000-seat arena at the Venetian, where the fight was held, was packed. Many in the audience were Filipinos who either lived and worked in Macau or nearby Hong Kong, or made the one-hour flight from the Philippines.
Some waved Philippine flags, and frequently chanted, 'Manny, Manny'.
Businessman Bong Ferrer flew to Macau with a group of 11 others.
'Of course this is a high morale day to the Filipino people because of what’s happening to us back in the Philippines. It’s redeeming to us. It makes us feel in high spirits,' he said.
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