Cagayan de Oro City (27 January) — HIS motivation to please God, his countrymen and his family plus a huge amount of hard work, rigid training and self-discipline are only some of the factors that made Manny Pacquiao win over his boxing opponent Erik Morales.
These should also be the same values that you, as students, should look up to in our most recent hero to achieve success in living a life for others, as had always been the aim of our Jesuit education.
Thus stressed Fr. Gorgonio S. Esguerra, S.J., principal of Xavier University High School (XUHS) in Cagayan de Oro City during a recent convocation following Pacquiao’s successful bout in Las Vegas, USA wherein he wowed the world with his excellence by knocking down Mexico’s boxing legend on Jan. 22.
The convocation was attended by the XUHS students, faculty members and school administrators with a few parents for the 3rd quarter reading of academic awards of some of the students in recognition for their excellence in their respective classes.
“I have seen that Pacquiao has been greatly motivated by those he loves. During his training he had practiced some self-denial like having to celebrate Christmas, New Year and his birthday away from home and family. But he did not despair. He went into rigid training and dedicated it to the God, his country and his family,” Esguerra said.
Addressing the students, he said, “Maybe, you should look up to Pacquiao for his efforts in having to undergo such strict self-discipline, which motivated him to succeed not only for himself, but for the rest of the Filipino people who joined him in prayer to carve yet another name for our country.”
“We all heard him when he said over international television that he dedicated his hard work to God first, before his country and his family. What he has just proven is the fact that ‘Yes, the Filipino can,'” Esguerra also stressed.
He told the students, “You, too, can do the same. You develop a sense of motivation to please God and your parents who showed their love to you by sending you to school and seeing to it that you get the education you needed.”
“You may not be able to do everything you want to do now. But you can always focus on your studies and dedicate them to God and your parents. Set another time for other activities. And for those who were not recognized today, you still have time to do better in the 4th and last quarter of this school year. After all, you can do your best like what Pacquiao did and God will do the rest,” Esguerra concluded.
Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has egged on and vigorously cheered for Pacquaio the way she did with the Filipino athletes who showed impressive performance during the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) held in the country last November.
And just like Pacquiao and the recent SEAG where the Philippines won the overall championship for the very first time, the Philippine Peso is now leading the ASEAN currencies higher.
Malacanang said, however, that it is not only the peso, but the whole economy, which is off to a flying start on the back of a growing domestic and international confidence.
On the first trading day of the year, the peso had hit it high with 52.80 against the US dollar for the first time in almost three years. As of last night, the peso continued to maintain its strong stance at 52.44 to a dollar. (PIA-10)
