Only Pacquiao makes Aetas leave mountains to watch bout

Pampanga, Philippines – After the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo’s eruptions, only the boxing matches of Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao made many Aetas left their ancestral abode.
On Sunday, Jason Mercado, his cousin Jeffrey and their old uncle trooped to a gymnasium in Barangay Cangatba across the Porac town hall to watch the live telecast of Pacquiao’s third bout with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez.

Mercado, 36, said they walked for two hours, crossed the Porac-Gumain River and hitched a ride on a motorcycle. Their hike was equivalent to a four-hour trek for lowlanders not used to the trail below Mt. Pinatubo. “We don’t have cable in Sapang Uwak,” Mercado said.

“I’m a fan. I’m a fan,” he said. Mercado said he has been watching Pacquiao’s fight on public television broadcasts until Sunday’s pay per view sponsored by the Porac government.

The Aeta village chief, Solis Palo, had been negotiating to install cable television for the Sunday’s bout, but Jeffrey said he decided to avail of the free pay per view because the village’s plans appeared to have failed.

He said the women in the village were tuned in to the fight on radio.

The 1991 blast sent Aetas in Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales in droves to the lowlands, making government aware that their population was 50,000. Their numbers have doubled, according to the latest data from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples