A 24-year-old waitress sued boxing hero Manny Pacquiao Wednesday after the boxer allegedly failed to give financial support for their love child.
Joanna Rose Bacosa, through her lawyer Castillo Rodriguez, filed charges against Pacquiao, invoking Republic Act 9262 or the law on violence against women and their children.
Rodriguez said Pacquiao allegedly threatened to kidnap the two-year-old boy after finding out that Bacosa had talked to a lawyer. He said Bacosa decided to sue Pacquiao because he was not responding to her text messages and calls.
Pacquiao earlier questioned the claims that he fathered the child, saying that the waitress also had a boyfriend when he was seeing her in 2003.
He said he has asked Bacoso’s lawyer to submit the child for a DNA test to determine the paternity of the two-year-old boy.
He said Bacosa asked for P15 million to support their alleged love child – a claim which was denied by Rodriguez.
Pacquiao said he had a one-night stand with Bacosa in 2004, adding that he was drunk at the time.
“One time po na nagkakilala kami niyan talagang umiinom pa ako noon lasing na lasing ako tapos sumama siya sa akin. May nangyari sa amin na isang beses lang tapos that time may boyfriend din siya (One time after we got acquainted, I got very drunk and she went with me. It happened only once. She also had a boyfriend),” Pacquiao told DZMM.
He said Bacosa met him after a month and told him that she was pregnant with his child.
The boxing champ admitted that he had been giving financial assistance to the mother and child, adding that he once gave Bacosa P300,000. A newspaper report earlier printed a baptism certificate of the child, which showed Pacquiao as the boy’s father.
Pacman said he refused to sign legal papers acknowledging that he was the father of the child.
“Hindi ko pinirmahan dahil gusto kong malaman kung talagang sa akin nga o anak ko talaga ‘yon dahil kung anak ko ‘yon ay walang problema sa akin ‘yon… Ako ang bahala sa pag-aaral hanggang makatapos (I didn’t sign it because I wanted to know if he really is my son. If he is, it wouldn’t be a problem. I’d support his schooling until he finishes),” he said.
Bacosa’s lawyer said the mother is ready to let the child undergo a DNA test to determine the boy’s paternity. “Hindi kami natatakot magpa-DNA test (We’re not afraid of a DNA test),” Rodriguez told ANC.
He also denied that his client was demanding P15 million from the boxing champ. “They are the ones giving the figures,” he said, adding that Pacquiao’s camp had tried to stop them from going public.
He said he suggested a trust fund for the boy although no figure was given by Bacoso’s camp.
Pacquiao is married to wife Jinky, a former ring girl with whom he has two sons.
The boxer, who once sold doughnuts in his native General Santos City, has become a national icon after winning various prize fights. He defeated Mexican champion Erik “El Terrible” Morales in Las Vegas, Nevada, last January 21.
