LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 05: Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines celebrates after his unanimous-decision victory over Jessie Vargas at the Thomas & Mack Center on November 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao won the WBO welterweight championship. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
MANILA — Malacañang said on Sunday, that the “courage and grit” shown by Filipino boxing superstars Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire in their respective bouts in Las Vegas typified the Duterte administration’s resolve to stem the drug menace.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar congratulated Pacquiao on his successful return fight to wrest the WBO welterweight championship belt from Mexican-American Jessie Vargas via a unanimous decision.
“The courage and grit displayed by our Filipino boxers in Las Vegas are the same qualities we must demonstrate as a nation to rid society of drugs, criminality and corruption,” Andanar said in an emailed statement.
“(The) government has been successfully waging a war on these fronts and we as a people – emulating our boxers’ toughness against all odds — must continue the strong gains as we battle towards victory,” he added.
Like in his previous fights, the Palace official said Pacquiao’s 22nd title bout once again “united and brought joy to our people and our nation.”
Said Andanar: “The discipline, the determination and the hard work of our ‘People’s Champ’ are truly what make him a national treasure in global sports.”
He said Donaire’s upset loss to Mexican-American Jessie Magdaleno in his defense of his WBO super bantamweight title would not “diminish the honors he bestowed to the people and to the flag.”
Infamously known as an absentee congressman, Pacquiao made a triumphant return to the canvass after winning a Senate seat in the May 9 balloting.
Pacquiao, arguably the most accomplished Filipino athlete in history, has been criticized for his support of President Duterte’s merciless drug war, which has claimed the lives of some 4,000 drug suspects in the first four months of his administration. SFM