Pacquiao visits troops for ‘last three rounds’

Photo by JTF Marawi

MARAWI CITY — Army reservist and former boxing champion Sen. Manny Pacquiao visited troops here on Saturday and urged soldiers to stay strong in the 68-day battle to free this war-torn city.

“Just like in boxing, we are in the last three rounds. Let’s not stop until the last round and let’s finish our fight so that we can have a peaceful country,” Pacquiao said in Filipino.

Pacquiao, a lieutenant colonel in the reserves, arrived at the 3rd Infantry Brigade headquarters here clad in fatigues and a beret with the sounds of nearby automatic gunfire and exploding ordnance.

But soldiers, who have been fighting Maute Group terrorists for over two months since May 23, warmly welcomed the former boxing champion with applause and salutes.

“You are the real heroes, not Manny Pacquiao. I am just a boxer, but you give your lives for our country,” he said.

The 38-year-old senator reassured the troops they were fighting a good fight although 114 soldiers and policemen have already been killed along with 45 civilians.

“For every life lost, there’s a family left behind. My prayer always is that God will protect all of you,” he said.

“Like our President, I want to join you in the battlefield … but if anything happens to me, you can no longer watch me fight in the ring,” he said, grinning.

“I am here to give you a message of encouragement not to give up,” he said, urging soldiers to press the fight for the sake of the people they had sworn to protect.

“The same with me, a native of Mindanao. I do not easily give up in any fight. So even if our lives are at stake, as long as we know we are fighting for peace, let’s not give up,” Pacquiao said.

“And if this thing is not yet over when I return, I will go there myself,” he said to the laughter of the troops.

But the senator also raised serious political matters when he said he had wanted martial law extended until Mr. Duterte’s last day in office and expanded to other parts of the country.

“The problem in our country is that there’s too much democracy. That’s why everyone can do what they want,” said the senator who was elected by 16 million votes in 2016, seventh among 12 senators.

Pacquiao, who also distributed food bags to the troops, remains a hugely popular figure, particularly in Mindanao.

Born to a poor family, he rose to become a millionaire through boxing by winning the championships of an unprecedented eight weight divisions.

He later used his celebrity status as a springboard to get elected to Congress; first, the House of Representatives, then the Senate.

Pacquaio was enlisted in the Army reserves and given the rank of sergeant in 2006, the year he defeated three-division champion Erik Morales of Mexico.

In 2007, he became a master sergeant, the highest rank in the enlisted personnel, and was given the special rank of senior master sergeant, in 2009.

In 2011, he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel by virtue of Republic Act No. 7077, or the Reservist Act of 1991, which allows elected officials to be commissioned directly.