SHE has the fighting heart of a true champion, a trait that her son, boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao, apparently inherited. But while her son had to contend with setbacks in the boxing ring, Dionisia Dapigran Pacquiao has also proven herself a hardy survivor of life’s cruel blows.
Thrice abandoned by the men she loved—first by her father, then by her first and second husbands—she had to support six children by herself. But Dionisia, 56, says she has no regrets. Her patience, tenacity and faith were well-rewarded in the end. As the mother of the wealthiest and most accomplished Filipino boxer, what more could she ask?
They were still young when her father walked out of their life, recounts Dionisia. Her mother, Cristina Mejia Dapigran, had to single-handedly provide for the needs of her nine children. The third in the brood, Dionisia says that it was her mother who instilled in her the values of hard work, fortitude and faith in God, qualities which became handy when she herself became a single parent.
She was pregnant with her second child when her first husband, Alfonso Silvestre, left her for another woman, she reveals. To support their two children, Liza, now 36, and Domingo, now 34, she made doughnuts and native delicacies and sold them in the neighborhood. They stayed with her mother in Barangay Tango, Glan, Sarangani Province.
For four years, Dionisia waited for her first husband to come home. Finally, she decided to marry again. She wanted not just someone to share life with, but to have more children. “If I had not remarried, there would have been no Manny Pacquiao today,” she says in jest.
Greener pastures
In 1975, she met Rosalio Pacquiao, with whom she had four children—Isidra, Manny, Bobby and Rogelio. In search of greener pastures, the family moved from Sarangani Province to Labangal village in Gen. Santos City.
Rosalio worked as laborer at the city public market while she stayed home taking care of their children, recounts Dionisia. Their income was hardly enough to meet their needs, she adds, so her husband decided to go to Tampakan town in South Cotabato to look for other ways to earn a living. He tried farming, staying for days in Tampakan to work the fields. Soon, he was staying away for longer periods. He must be very busy, his wife had thought, until she learned that her husband was living with another woman. Dionisia was shocked, and initially didn’t want to let him go. They had shared a common bed for almost two decades, after all. But for the sake of their children, she willed herself to move on. She started baking native delicacies again and worked in a factory.
By this time, Manny was already an amateur boxer who would regularly send money from Manila, Dionisia recalls. His two younger siblings, Bobby, now also a professional boxer, and Rogelio, the youngest, sold cellophane bags at the public market to help out.
Sustained by faith
Aside from her children, prayers provided her strong support, says Dionisia. She drew strength and courage from constant praying, she adds, a reason why all her children, especially Manny, grew up devout Catholics who pray before retiring to bed and upon waking up. At a time when they had almost nothing, it was their faith that sustained them, she says.
In contrast, they seem to have everything these days. After her son became a world boxing champion, life changed dramatically for Dionisia and her children. She now lives in a two-bedroom house just walking a distance away from Manny’s plush residence. He had given her not just a house and lot, but also monthly support and enough cash for her ulcer and heart medication. No longer does she have to peddle native cakes in the neighborhood. These days, Dionisia stays home and spends most of her time enjoying the videoke, watching movies and reliving the glory of her son’s wins on DVD.
The Filipino ring icon has also given a house and lot to his sisters Liza and Isidra, and bought a tricycle for his elder brother Domingo. It was Manny who supported the schooling of his youngest brother Rogelio, who is now working abroad.
Of course, if it were up to her, Dionisia would not want Manny to become a boxer. She’d rather he become a priest. Which was why her son kept his training secret when he was just starting. He knew it would break his mother’s heart just thinking how he could get hurt in the ring.
Anxious mother
Dionisia understands how powerless parental desires can be, but there’s nothing she can do about it now. Manny’s passion has always been boxing. All she can do is give him moral support and pray for his son’s safety every time he climbs the ring. She can’t even watch his fights live. All that anxiety and excitement is bad for her heart. So while people around the world grip the edge of their seats as they watch her son fight, Dionisia is in her room, kneeling before the altar and imploring God’s help to protect her son from harm.
During last Sunday’s rematch between Manny and Mexican boxing legend Erik Morales, this anxious mother collapsed after a naughty Pacquiao fan told her that the Mexican fighter had been knocked out in the first round. It turned out to be a bum steer.
The Pacquiao-Morales rematch, also dubbed “The Battle,” saw the virtual reunion of the Pacquiao clan. Kith and kin, including neighbors, trooped to Manny’s residence to watch the fight. Manny’s father Rosalio was also there to cheer. But the estranged couple did not sleep in the same room that night. Dionisia went home that same evening and left her husband in Manny’s house.
Though there were brief instances when Dionisia and Rosalio were shown hugging each other on television, she clarifies that there’s no talk of possible reconciliation between them. Unless, she adds, Rosalio decides once and for all to leave his other woman and return home.
