Be man enough to face your court battle before facing your opponent in the ring.
This, in effect, was the challenge of Joanna Rose Bacosa, the former lover of Manny Pacquiao, who has sued the Filipino boxing idol for child support.
Bacosa has alleged that Pacquiao is the father of her son from an affair they had in 2004.
Bacosa said she met Pacquiao when she was a waitress at the hotel where the boxer was a guest at a celebrity billiards tournament. She was hired as a rack set-up girl for the event.
“I hope he?ll be man enough to face us before his next fight,” Bacosa said in an interview at the Quezon City Prosecutor?s Office.
For the third time, Pacquiao did not show up during a preliminary investigation of the case.
“Ordinarily, a person who is innocent is eager to face his accuser. But if he?s guilty, then he will exhaust all legal remedies to avoid a meeting,” Bacosa?s lawyer, Victor Rodriguez, said.
“If Pacquiao meets his son, and the child runs up to him, would he turn away? He?s in a bind, so that?s probably why he’s avoiding them,” he added.
Rodriguez said on Bacosa?s behalf he will ask the court to issue an order compelling Pacquiao to undergo a DNA test to determine the paternity of the boy.
Bacosa and her son earlier went to the St. Luke?s Hospital to have a DNA test.
Dr. Raymond Lo, St. Luke?s pathology department chief, did not allow the test, saying Pacquiao should be present.
Jose Cristomo, Pacquiao?s legal counsel, said his client was concerned that the case might distract him in his training for his fight against Oscar Larios on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum.
