GENERAL SANTOS CITY?As her son?s fight with Oscar De La Hoya draws near, the mother of Manny Pacquiao feels like she is having an anxiety attack.
But Dionisia Pacquiao believes in the power of prayer and she is asking Manny to pray doubly hard before the fight.
?Parang bumalik yong nerbiyos ko. Kinakabahan ako masyado (It seems my nervousness is back. I am extremely nervous),? she said.
Dionisia said what made her more anxious now than in Manny?s previous fights was that De La Hoya ?is bigger and taller? than her son.
Like in his past fights, she tried to find comfort in prayer. She also wanted her son to pray harder.
?If you are strong before, double your strength and your prayers so you will be safe and you will win,? was Dionisia?s advice to Manny. Dionisia said that because she could not bear the sight of his son slugging it out in the ring, she?d rather not watch the fight on live television. ?I?ll just watch the replay because my heart won?t be able to take it,? she said in Filipino. Asked about her prediction for the fight, Dionisia said she was confident that Manny?s training and his faith in God would help him defeat De La Hoya. Nothing is impossible with God, she said. Manny?s political opponent in the 2007 congressional election in South Cotabato will watch the bout via satellite telecast, along with Mayor Pedro Acharon. Acharon said the city government and the family of Rep. Darlene Custodio had already paid Solar Sports P350,000 so the fight could be seen on a big screen put up at the Lagao gym. Acharon said admission to the gym would be free but they had adopted a ticketing system for crowd control. The tickets will be given to village officials, who will take charge of distribution in their respective areas. In Cotabato City, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it was expecting a lull in the clashes in Maguindanao province during the fight. ?Definitely, our forces on the ground who have access to television and radio will temporarily silence their guns,? Eid Kabalu, MILF civil-military operations chief, said.
