GENERAL SANTOS CITY — When renowned boxer Manny Pacquiao comes home to this city before the end of the month, he will not only be accorded a hero’s welcome.
For the first time, he will be seeing the Pacman convenience store, built by his wife Jinky while he was busy practicing in the United State for his epic bout with Erik Morales.
Opened to the public only last month, Jinky named it after Pacquiao’s famous moniker1, which was taken from a popular video game where the Pacman character surmounts the odds by eating up the other characters.
“She softly opened the Pacman convenience store last month when Manny was already training for his bout with Morales,” said Rey Golingan, a close friend of the Pacquiao family.
The Pacman convenience store, said Golingan, is like the popular 7-11 shops found in bigger cities here and abroad.
Mrs. Pacquiao reportedly put up the convenience store out of the earlier winnings of her husband.
When Pacquiao is expected to arrive here before month’s end, Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. said the city government is preparing a fabulous welcome for the hometown hero, starting with a motorcade from the airport all the way to the city proper. The city government will then sponsor either a luncheon or dinner for Pacquiao and his friends and supporters.
GenSan was named as Pacquiao’s hometown before his bout with Morales, an announcement heard all over the world.
“He deserves a great honor for making the locality and the country proud in the eyes of the world,” Acharon said.
Golingan, a local hotelier and owner of a convention center here, offered to tender a separate victory party for Pacquiao. “I’m a staunch supporter of Manny and I’m willing to host him a party. I’ve been doing that for him because he is a close friend,” he said.
The businessman is a known boxing aficionado. He is presently the chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines here.
Meantime, Mr. Pacquiao’s mother, Dionisia, was seen on national television this morning in very high spirits. “Thank you very much for all your prayers,” she said.
