Manny Pacquiao's two-year old daughter Mary Divine Grace doing a "high-five" with a cousin after her father's conquest of boxer Oscar De La Hoya. INQUIRER MINDANAO/AQUILES ZONIO
GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines--Two-year-old Princess Pacquiao gave her nanny a high-five as everyone around her broke into jubilation when Mexican ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar dela Hoya surrendered early in the 9th round to give up the fight to her dad, Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.
Princess, whose real name is Mary Divine Grace, is Manny's youngest child.
The vivacious Princess might be too young to fully understand the impact of her daddy's win over De la Hoya but her happiness mirrored that of the nation.
More than 150 people, mostly close relatives and journalists, gathered at the lobby of Pacquiao's mansion in Lagao village here to watch the fight via a live feed.
Prior to the fight, Princess was the center of attention as she gamely answered questions from journalists.
Her nanny, Nedy Ambit, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Manny called up Princess around 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
She said the girl was happy upon hearing her dad on the phone.
When the Inquirer asked Princess what her dad had told her, she quipped: "Nood TV laban ni daddy." (Watch TV, daddy’s fight on)
Responding to a question about other things she had told Manny, Princess said: "head and tummy."
Nedy said what the girl meant was that Manny asked her which part he should hit Dela Hoya and that she told her dad to hit him in the head and tummy.
While Princess was taking simple questions from journalists, her aunt Liza, Manny's elder sister, asked for a glass of water when the bell signaling the first round rang.
"Dela Hoya is larger than Manny," she blurted out.
It was at about this moment that Dionisia, Manny's mother, went to pray.
When it was announced that Manny had indeed won, Dionisia stopped praying and thanked Manny's supporters.
"Maraming salamat po sa lahat ng Pilipino, sa media, sa mga lider natin, at mga kaibigan, sa kanilang buong suporta kay Manny," Dionisia said. (Thank you very much to all the Filipinos, to media, to our leaders and friends for their complete support for Manny.)
At the 6,000-capacity Lagao gymnasium here, where Manny's bout with Dela Hoya was aired live via satellite, a number of people failed to squeeze themselves in.
"The gymnasium was overcrowded. Others just contented themselves watching at the big screen mounted outside the gym," South Cotabato Representative Darlene Custodio said.
Sources told the Inquirer that Custodio, who defeated the southpaw during the 2007 congressional race, literally jumped when Manny defeated De la Hoya.
In Zamboanga City, the roads were almost deserted as small stores closed shop for the dream fight.
The military even said that an informal ceasefire took effect against Abu Sayyaf bandits in Basilan and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in many parts of Mindanao.
"I know for a fact that in some other camps including the ones in Basilan, soldiers will take time to watch the fight," 1Lt. Esteffani Cacho, spokesperson of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said earlier Sunday.
Eid Kabalu, MILF civil-military affairs chief, confirmed that their forces in many parts of Mindanao watched or listened to the broadcast of the fight.
"If Manny fights everyday, guns will always be silent," he said.
"It's silent everywhere. I know that everybody is watching Pacman," Cacho said.
However, a late breaker indicated that heavy clashes had taken place in Basilan and Sulu since Sunday morning.
Inside the Santa Cruz public market in Zamboanga City, several fish vendors nearly came into a melee when they argued about an earlier rumor that Manny had lost the fight.
The misunderstanding worsened when a visibly dismayed vendor threw a piece of fish at the face of another vendor he was arguing with.
In Cagayan de Oro City, the whole city also came to a standstill.
But inside restaurants and cinema houses, which showed the fight live, it was a different story.
Despite the price tag of P150-500, residents flocked to restaurants and movie houses to watch the fight.
Epie Medio, a fruit vendor, said that he did not mind that business was slow during the fight.
"A victory for Pacquiao will make Christmas for us poor a lot less lonely," he said.
In Tagum City, neighbors and friends packed a house in the city proper, whose owner, a local businessman and a part-time radio announcer, was able to subscribe to the pay-per-view broadcast of the fight.
Close to 200 people also crowded a restaurant and entertainment center along the national highway in Barangay (Village) Poblacion even though they had to shell out P150 each just to watch the live telecast.
The city-sponsored public viewing inside several gymnasiums in villages in Tagum and other parts of Davao del Norte, was canceled the day before because of the service provider's failure to strike an agreement with Solar Sports.
"I'll just watch the fight on replay," pedicab driver Ranie Soler said in the vernacular. "My idol won anyway so I'm happy."
Anthony del Rosario, son of Governor Rodolfo del Rosario and coordinator of the province's sports program, said the provincial government also tried negotiating with another cable TV company but it did not materialize as the company "only caters to home viewing."
"Sa radyo na lang ta. (We will just monitor the fight over the radio)," said pedicab driver Artemio Relles, 40.
In Compostela Valley, Manny's fans were also disappointed following the announcement on Friday by the local government officials that his bout with De la Hoya would not be aired live after all.
The Compostela Valley case was similar to that of Davao del Norte.
"We are sorry to inform our constituents in Compostela Valley that there will be no live public viewing of the Pacquiao-De La Hoya fight," Compostela Valley Governor Arturo Uy announced over Radyo Ukay.
In areas where the fight had been aired live, gambling among spectators happened as in Manny's previous fights.
In Cotabato City, viewers placed their bets on varying knock-out forecasts, from sixth round to eighth round in favor of Paquiao. Some betted two-to-one on a sixth round knock-out win for Paquiao, against a unanimous decision, still in favor of the Filipino boxer.
"That's the range of the betting here: sixth to eighth round knock-out or a unanimous decision, all in favor of Paquiao," said Tommy Tee, a local reporter.
In Davao del Sur, where Manny started his career as an amateur boxer, some bettors favored Dela Hoya.
One of them, a security guard, said he did not expect Pacquiao to win because Dela Hoya was much larger than him.
"I was wrong," he said.
Reports from Aquiles Zonio, Nash Maulana, Charlie Señase, Franklin Caliguid, Julie Alipala, Edwin Fernandez, Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez, Frinston Lim, Orlando Dinoy, Eldie Aguirre and Richel Umel, Inquirer Mindanao
Copyright 2009 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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