THANKS, MAYOR – To date, many people still insist that Manila Mayor Lito Atienza personally watched Manny Pacquiao knock out Erik Morales in Las Vegas last year. This is because the boxing champ thanked the mayor after the fight. And so the impression was Mayor Atienza was in Vegas. Actually, he watched the Pacquiao-Morales fight on the big screen at SM theater.
Well, long before Manny became a world champion, Mayor Atienza has been an ardent supporter. And in gratitude, Manny acknowledges the help every time he gets the chance. “I would have understood if Manny failed to thank me in Vegas considering the many VIPs who watched the bout live,” says the three-term mayor.
Atienza’s appearing as himself in the Pacquiao filmbio, produced by FLT and Star Cinema, with Jericho Rosales as the champ, under the direction of Joel Lamangan. He’s a “guest star.”
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TOO TOUGH – Did he entertain thought of becoming a boxer during his younger years? “I think many boys dreamt of becoming one, but I realized early on that boxing was too tough for me. My son Ali wanted to be a boxer but I didn’t allow him when I heard Muhammad Ali saying that parents shouldn’t encourage their children to become pros. He said that for every Ali there are thousands of boxers who are in the gutters, sick, hungry, begging on the streets of America,” Atienza recalls.
Ali was named after the boxing great, the greatest ever.
He relates that Ali excelled in another sport, taekwondo. Ali defeated a Korean – the first time a Filipino did so – winning gold in the Asian Games. That Korean later won a gold at the Olympics.
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DANCE CENTER, OUTSTANIDNG MANILE?OS – Colleague Lolit Solis gathered the entertainment press at the Sanbashi Japanese restaurant by Manila Bay (Rizal Park) to meet Mayor Atienza, who enumerated some of his projects, like the opening of the Manila Dance and Cultural Arts Center and the search for outstanding Manile?os and artists.
The center (beside the US Embassy along Roxas Blvd) offers poor children of Manila (seven to 14 years old) to develop their dancing skill under the country’s top choreographers. There are more than 200 dance scholars, some of whom represented Manila in dancefests in Taiwan. Atienza (himself a Bayanihan dancer during his college days) invites the public to the “Hiyas” show every Friday at the center’s outdoor stage. For only R300 one can enjoy a special Filipino merienda from 5:30 to 6 p.m., followed by the show proper from 6 to 7 p.m.
The nomination for outstanding citizens and artists of Manila is now open, who will be honored on the city’s 435th Foundation Day on June 24.
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OTHER PLANS – Mayor Atienza announces that the City College of Manila on Escolta is soon transferring to its new site at Mehan Garden, near City Hall. Its new focus is on science and technology.
Aside from the city college, Manila also runs the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (Intramuros), whose massscom graduates include GMA executive Wilma Galvante, scriptwriter Roy Iglesias, and entertainment columnist Edgar Cruz.
Whatever happened to the long-delayed plans to rehabilitate the Metropolitan Theater?
Atienza says that in time, hopefully soon, the Met will be converted into a venue for plays and concerts catering to the masa.
