nationa weary of bad news celebrates pacqiao success. people stoppped whatever they were doing to watch the fight




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Shops in many parts of the Philippines closed early Sunday to watch
Manny Pacquiao beat Mexican fighter Erik Morales in a grudge match in
Las Vegas.

President Arroyo led the boxing-crazy country in jubilation.

"I join Filipinos from every corner of the Philippines and the world
over in congratulating Manny Pacquiao on his very convincing
victory," Mrs. Arroyo said after watching the match on television.

"Manny's triumph exemplifies the indomitable fighting spirit of the
Filipino not just in the field of sports but also in every field of
struggle for excellence," she said.

The President's husband, Jose Miguel, and their son, Rep. Mikey
Arroyo, were in Las Vegas to watch the game live. Also cheering for
Pacquiao at ringside were Gov. Luis "Cha­vit" Singson of Ilocos
Sur, Mayor Lito Atienza of Manila, Sen. Lito Lapid, Congressmen
Prospero Nograles and Arnulfo Fuentebella, Gov. Tomas Joson 3rd of
Nueva Ecija and the former Rizal governor, Casi­miro Ynares.

In General Santos City, Pacquiao's home town, televisions were set up
in markets and in barber shops for the public to watch their idol win
in a technical knock out in the 10th round.

In Metro Manila, crowds clustered around televisions in streetside
stores, cheering wildly every time their countryman jolted the Mexican
with a flurry of combinations.

In one badminton stadium in Manila, matches were stopped as the players
watched the fight on television.

Fans became unruly as they tried to get inside a theater in SM City
Manila showing the fight without commercials. Security guards restored
order.

In Lucena and Lipa cities, storeowners, restaurants and cable
televisions made a tidy sum on the fight.

Lucena's premier restaurant, City Antigua, charged P100 per diner at
the second floor and P80 on the ground floor. The establishment was
packed.

Local cable TV stations in Lucena also made extra money. A cable
subscriber, Edwin Dapula, said he paid an additional P50, but he said
he has no regrets. "Even if the figures were so small, it was
satisfaction enough to see Morales going down in the 10th round,"
Dapula told The Manila Times.

Banana vendors AJ Guevarra, JR Paloma and Arman Zirudo closed their
market stalls after lunch and established themselves in front of a
neighbor's television. They did not care about the half-day loss in
sales, saying it's not every day that their idol climbs the ring.

In Barangay 7, Lipa, the couple Teodoro and Generosa Dimayuga dragged
their giant digital television into the garage so friends and neighbors
can watch the game with them.

The Dimayugas owned a small grocery store. Barely two hours after they
switched on their TV, six cases of beer had been consumed along with
servings of pulutan.

The Dimayugas' store assistant, Mae Santos, said their garage
resembled a cockpit arena because of the heckling and shouting.

The crowd was so high on drinks they nearly missed the start of the
fight. Noodles were distributed to sober them up.
--AFP, Sam Mediavilla, Belly M. Otordoz and Katrice R. Jalbuena

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