Ring battle to silence other PH battles

Rooting for their boxing hero Manny Pacquiao, the MILF soldiers will lay down their arms for awhile to watch the fight of the century. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

From air-conditioned corporate boardrooms to steamy public gymnasiums, Filipinos are counting down the hours to Manny Pacquiao’s “Battle for Greatness” with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas this morning (Saturday night in the United States).

The world welterweight championship bout was expected to bring the country to a standstill today and mark a rare period of unity for the invariably fractious country.

“We also expect Maoist rebels and Muslim extremists to watch the Pacquaio-Mayweather fight,” said Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, Army spokesperson, adding that wide television screens will be set up in all military camps, including in conflict areas.

“Filipinos are all united behind our own hero. We are all rooting for Manny,” the military official said of the local boxing icon. “We expect a very peaceful day, no crime, no fighting,” Cabunoc added.

READ: Muslim rebels, Filipino soldiers to watch Pacquiao-Mayweather match

His prediction was echoed by Wilfredo “Jing” Espiritu, a regional officer in Las Vegas for the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, who said he was lobbying Las Vegas officials to proclaim an official Manny Pacquiao Day because of the boxer’s importance to the local community.

Pacquiao cake

Espiritu offered an anecdote to sum up Pacquiao’s icon status for Filipinos everywhere: “Every time Manny Pacquiao fights, there’s zero crime in the Philippines because everyone, including the criminals, they all stop and watch.”

A day before the fight, the air of expectation and excitement reached fever pitch in the country, with people coming up with creative ways to show their support for the boxing legend.

A life-size Pacquiao 70-kilogram chocolate cake, which took two weeks to make, went on display on Saturday in Manila, with slices to be given away after the bout.

Cinemas and restaurants have sold out tickets for the fight, and even prisoners at a jail in Sarangani province—which Pacquiao represents in Congress—will have the chance to watch the fight.

Taxi driver Manolo Garcia said he would stop for a few hours to listen to his radio.

“Win or lose, I am for Manny Pacquiao,” he said. “I will pray for him, I will pray for his victory. God is on his side.”