LOS ANGELES — With his wife Jinkee seated beside him at the dining table late Sunday morning, Manny Pacquiao asked a reporter what he thought was the sentiment of the Filipino people who watched him score yet another dramatic victory in San Antonio, Texas.
Told that he fulfilled the promise of “making people happy” for the nth time, Pacquiao put up a wide grin, his pearly white teeth and the sparkle in his eyes, reflecting the joy and satisfaction of the previous night’s conquest.
But when advised that he had his countrymen and supporters on the verge of passing out after sustaining a hideous cut on his left eyebrow, Pacquiao shrugged them off and assured everyone that he never felt even once that Mexican Jorge Solis was in control of the match.
“I was in charge,” said Pacquiao, while having KFC chicken with biscuits, a few moments after his arrival from San Antonio, at the penthouse of his apartment unit at the Palazzo, where members of his so-called LA entourage were busy packing his belongings for the long trip back home.
“I knew what I was doing although I really missed a lot of punches because he was ducking low,” said Pacquiao, who went on to post a vicious eighth-round knockout witnessed by 14,793 people.
“I guess our countrymen were happy to see me fight and win again,” said Pacquiao, whose next assignment–an election showdown with incumbent South Cotabato Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio on May 14–seems to be a lot tougher than Solis.
Pacquiao is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Tuesday morning after taking the Philippine Airlines flight that left LAX late Sunday night (early Monday afternoon in the Philippines).
But Pacquiao would have to wait for one day before getting back to General Santos City so he could catch up on the campaign trail.
“A parade will be held for me,” said Pacquiao, whose exploits have become a source of national pride by a country often ravaged by natural calamities and political instability.
While Pacquiao is still salivating over his latest ring feat, his mind is now elsewhere, in an arena more potent and barbaric than the ones fought atop the ring.
Despite the dangers of moonlighting as a politician, Pacquiao is undaunted and is slowly getting himself accustomed to a new title.
Pacquiao has suddenly switched to politics mode that he told his interviewer “to call me from now on as Mr. Congressman.”
