WILL there be fireworks? Or forgiveness?
Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao will be put on the defensive in a scheduled face-to-face courtroom meeting today with a former lover and the boy the boxing hero had allegedly fathered.
A hearing of the case, filed by Joanna Rose Bacosa to seek recognition and support for her son, will be held at the office of the Quezon City assistant prosecutor.
If Pacquiao keeps his word and shows up, it will be the first face-to-face meeting between the involved parties after nearly a year.
The meeting has been set at 12 noon at the office of the Assistant Prosecutor Ma. Gracia Casaclang, but another announcement said it would be at 2 p.m., an obvious ploy to avoid the expected swarm of mediamen.
Bacosa, Pacquiao’s former girlfriend, and her son are expected to report to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where they plan to undergo a DNA test with or without Casaclang’s consent.
The results will be submitted to Casaclang, apparently to reinforce the demand for Pacquiao to undergo the same test.
But more than the DNA test, Bacosa said the meeting is vital because the familial instincts (or “lukso ng dugo,” as she put it) of both father and son during their new encounter should speak volumes on her case against Pacquiao.
“That we have to see,” said Bacosa’s lawyer Victor Rodriguez who added Pacquiao is definitely expected to show up in today’s hearing.
Pacquiao was in Hong Kong with his family when the first meeting on the case was held last week.
Bacosa, 24, has claimed that she and Pacquiao were sweethearts for two years, and that Pacquiao is the father of her son.
Pacquiao would not confirm her claims, but said he would provide the boy financial support if a DNA test prove dhe was the biological father.
Bacosa sued Pacquiao last Feb. 8 for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 9262, which protects women from violence, and to seek support for the boy.
