Tag: Philippines

Manny Pacquiao on front lines fighting coronavirus in Philippines

Manny Pacquiao said he’s putting his boxing career aside for the time being to help fight coronavirus in his native Philippines.

Manny Pacquiao has a fight. He is fighting coronavirus.

The Filipino senator is buying testing kits and face masks. He also has donated buses to transport medical personnel to where they are needed in Manila

Pacquiao told The Manila Bulletin he will work with his fellow citizens where ever he has to, even if it puts him at risk of infection.

He told The Bulletin that he was “not afraid to die.” He said it was his duty to help fellow Filipinos.

‘If you are a leader, you have to be a front-liner,’’ Pacquiao said. “You have to lead people and let people see that you are with them. I grew up poor. I know what they feel.”

According the The Bulletin, Pacquiao has helped pay for testing devices and surgical masks. He said he is waiting on a shipment 50,000 more testing kits from China.

Pacquiao had been hoping for a return to the ring in July. He last fought last July 7, scoring a split-decision victory over Keith Thurman for a welterweight belt in Las Vegas.

For now, however, he has shelved plans for a comeback.

“This is the first thing we need to pay attention to,’’ said Pacquiao, who is also concerned that hunger and looting will happen because of the spreading virus. “That’s chaos, and that’s what I fear could happen.”

To understand why Kobe Bryant meant so …

To understand why Kobe Bryant meant so much to the residents of the Taguig Tenement, you must first understand the Philippine love affair with basketball. In the Philippines, you can find the game everywhere, from tiny fishing villages to congested urban intersections. Basketball is played in cemeteries, amid rice paddies, along train tracks and on street corners. Courts come in all shapes and sizes. Full courts, half courts, quarter courts. Sometimes a hoop with no court. On the best courts there are fading free throw and 3-point lines, but more often there are ankle-wrecking cracks and curbs and an edict to watch out for cars — both parked and moving. “Basketball is a religion to us,” Swift says. “We put basketball courts wherever we want to, wherever we please. On gates, on trees, on top of sand, concrete, dirt, whatever. All you really need is a ring and a basketball and you can be by yourself and play this game peacefully and enjoy.”

Almost instantly, images of the …

Almost instantly, images of the portrait went viral. It even was shown on the Staples Center video board in Los Angeles during the Lakers’ tribute to Kobe prior to the first game after his death. Strangers started flocking to the Tenement to pay their respects to Bryant and his daughter. One young woman named Britney stuck with Swift. She lived in Los Angeles and was visiting Manila for work. The photo found her. She knew she had to come by. “The emotion she came in with, that’s when I knew we touched a lot of people,” Swift says. “This was not just a Filipino thing.”

“That’s my ultimate goal, to return to …

“That’s my ultimate goal, to return to the NBA,” he said. “The PBA gave me the opportunity to develop different aspects of my game. For one, the ball was in my hands a lot. If I had a choice, I’d like to play for an NBA team from the south so I’m close to family. My little cousins look up to me and it would be awesome if they get a chance to see me play in the NBA again.”