Pacman to hawks in House: You ain’t seen war

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Saying he saw what war was like as a boy in the town of G’lan in Sarangani province, boxing icon and Rep. Manny Pacquiao said his colleagues in Congress should think twice about calling for an all-out war against Moro guerrillas.

“When I was young, I experienced the horrors of war between the communist insurgents and government forces,” said Pacquiao in an interview here on Wednesday.

“It’s hard to wake up in the middle of the night and run away from the house just to avoid being caught in the cross fire,” he added.

“I don’t know if those lawmakers and politicians who are fomenting war as a solution to the Mindanao problem have ever experienced living in a conflict zone,” Pacquiao said.

“They should try, and let’s see how they would feel,” he said.

The boxer-congressman said he was donating P750,000 of his personal funds to 15 Special Action Force commandos who were injured during an operation to get international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” in the town of Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.

Pacquiao said he was set to visit the injured policemen at the Philippine National Police hospital. Aquiles Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao