MANILA, Philippines–MANILA IS “MANNY-LA” no more, and neither will there be motorcades.
Citing “prior commitments,” Filipino boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao will skip a hero’s welcome in Manila when he returns home at daybreak Thursday after skillfully demolishing Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera in the United States on Saturday night.
Pacquiao’s handlers relayed his decision Wednesday to the city government, once ruled by one of his staunchest patrons, Lito Atienza, who is now environment secretary.
“It’s disappointing because we have made the initial preparations already for a hero’s welcome for him,” said Mayor Alfredo Lim, who defeated Atienza’s son Ali in the May elections.
“I don’t know the reason,” Lim said in Filipino at a National Press Club forum.
Pacquiao owes P120,000 in concessionaire’s fees to City Hall, which was incurred by his Knockout Bar in Baywalk along Roxas Boulevard. The bar and other business establishments in the area were dismantled shortly after Lim’s election win.
The mayor has remained firm that he will not rescind the boxing champion’s debt.
Debt of gratitude Pacquiao, though, seemed inclined to pay a debt of gratitude anew to Atienza, who had seen him rise to his current status. The boxer had given his word to the former mayor to show up exclusively at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources office and at Malaca?ang after the fight with Barrera.
Atienza was at ringside when Pacquiao fought Barrera in Las Vegas, Nevada. He returned to the country Wednesday.
On Monday, the DENR confirmed that it would roll out the red carpet for Pacquiao upon his return, the first time it would honor a sports icon.
The boxing idol is expected to arrive at 5:30 a.m. Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Centennial Terminal on a Philippine Airlines Flight PR-103 from Los Angeles. He had earlier been set to come home on Friday.
Airport officials have placed a security detail for Pacquiao and made arrangements for media coverage.
“There won’t be any motorcades,” Atienza told reporters. “He just wants the usual warmth we give to him, because Manny is one of us.”
A red carpet on the DENR lobby and huge streamers on the facade of the newly spruced building, however, awaits the 28-year-old Pacquiao.
Not proper time? Asked about the cancellation of a planned motorcade in Manila after Pacquiao turned it down, Atienza said: “They probably did not invite him at the proper time.”
“The coordination is tight. And no matter how you’d want to invite Manny, he has to make sure his schedule allows it,” he added.
The environment secretary said he stopped short of asking Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte to organize a motorcade for Pacquiao Thursday to avoid loose political talk.
From the airport, Pacquiao, together with his wife and entourage, is expected to head for the Renaissance Hotel in Makati City. After a rest, he will proceed to the DENR office and later to Malaca?ang.
Earlier, Lim offered to host Pacquiao at City Hall and ordered his officials to arrange a motorcade for him around the city, as was done previously by his predecessor, Atienza.
‘Maybe, on next fight’ In a text message, the boxer’s business manager, Eric Pineda, Wednesday confirmed to city administrator Jesus Mari Marzan that the champion had “prior commitments” and could not grace the event.
“Maybe we can do it on his next fight,” the message read.
Marzan said he immediately placed an overseas call to Pineda to confirm the message, but the official received the same reply that Pacquiao’s “welcome party” had been arranged a month ago.
“There will be no more preparations, because it’s all centered on Manny. If he’s not coming, then there’s no need to plan (a hero’s welcome) … We have to respect their wishes,” Lim said.
The mayor said he was not blaming the ring superstar, but expressed sadness that Manila residents would not be able to see him this time.
Despite the rejection, Lim said banners and streamers would still be put up in strategic places in the city, including the whole stretch of Roxas Boulevard, to congratulate Pacquiao for his victory.
He said his offer to host Pacquiao would still remain. “As long as they want it, we are here all the time to give a warm welcome. It’s because of the honor he carries, for the nation and our people,” he said in Filipino.
Giddy with excitement On Wednesday, DENR employees were giddy with excitement about Pacquiao’s courtesy call on Atienza. They were preparing to shower him with confetti.
Atienza said “this has been the tradition at Manila City Hall in almost eight years. He’d come to City Hall before anything else to get a warm reception from the very appreciative City Hall employees.”
Pacquiao himself has made it a point to visit Atienza, whom he looks up to as a father figure, before and after a fight.
“This is a personal thing between my family and his family. The most natural thing for him is to come home, and he will motor here,” said the environment secretary, who became close to Pacquiao through his son Ali in the late 1990s.
“Win or lose, he comes to us to talk about his fight…. He’ll talk about his fight and the treacherous blow that he got from Barrera,” said Atienza.
From the DENR, Atienza will accompany Pacquiao to Malaca?ang.
The bout with Barrera was “very critical” because Pacquiao wanted a second conquest and a rebound from a stinging loss in the May 14 congressional elections in South Cotabato, according to Atienza.
“Defeating Barrera started him on the path of stardom. It was a question of supremacy,” Atienza said. “After his frustrated experimentation in politics, deep within him, he wanted to win.”
With a report from Tarra Quismundo
