Makati City residents and officials expressed dismay over the “no-show” of Manny Pacquiao’s parade in the city’s main thoroughfares and business district, especially along Ayala Avenue.
The city government had been receiving inquiries as early as Tuesday from Makati-based corporations, asking how they could participate in welcoming Pacquiao. Makati’s private sector was also prepared to give the ring idol a hero’s welcome.
Ayala Avenue has been the traditional venue for ticker tape parades. Ms. International Precious Lara Quigaman and the Filipino SEA Games athletes were among those feted with confetti and cheered on by hundreds of residents, executives and employees when they paraded through the heart of Makati’s financial center last year.
When Pacquiao won over Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera in November 2003, his motorcade also passed through Ayala Avenue.
For his part, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said the exclusion of Pacquiao’s motorcade from the streets of the city was unfair, and that politics must be set aside when a Filipino icon like Pacquiao is honored.
Binay said Pacquiao, who knocked out Erik Morales of Mexico in the 10th round of their match in Las Vegas, is worthy of the people’s respect, regardless of political persuasion.
The Makati mayor echoed the sentiments of the Makati City Council, which passed a unanimous resolution Tuesday calling Pacquiao a model for the Filipino youth in the arena of clean and honest competition. Michael Caber
