By
Gideon C. Corgue
LABANGAN, Zamboanga del Sur – Despite his loss to undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.,
Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is still the hero and champion in the eyes
of the officers and men of the 1st Infantry (Tabak) division,
Philippine Army.
Pacquaio lost
to Mayweather in their welterweight mega fight on Saturday dubbed “The Battle
for Greatness” held at MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mayweather
beat Manny in scores after the three judges gave 118-110, 116-112 and another
116-112 in favor of the American boxer.
Lt.
Col. Audie Mongao, commanding officer of the 1st Civil-Military
Operations battalion said during the live viewing of Pacquiao-Mayweather fight
at the Tabak gym, “Manny is still the people’s champ.”
Mongao
said: “We know that he did his best to provide a good show for sports fans
around the world” adding
“the officers, enlisted personnel,
dependents and guests who watched the fight thought Pacquiao won because he was
more aggressive in the ring than Mayweather.”
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Alvin Luzon, commanding
officer of 53rd Infantry battalion based in Guipos town, said the unit
had also set up a giant screen to give the troopers free public viewing on
Pacquaiao-Mayweather fight.
Luzon said it had been a tradition of the unit to
provide a live viewing of Pacquaiao’s fight to the troopers, as a gesture of
support to the “People’s Champ” and for the soldiers not to go out of the camp.
Asked about his reaction to Pacquaiao’s loss,
Luzon said, “win or lose, Pacquiao is a hero to every Filipino. He is our
inspiration. He has brought much honors to our country and has made millions of
people around the world happy.”
In a related development, retired BGen. Muhammad
Nur Askalani, a guest from Zamboanga City, said he admired the troopers’
initiative for setting up a giant screen for them to watch live telecast of the
mega-bout between Pacquaio and Mayweather Jr. for free.
Askalani, a sports enthusiast along with 30
members of tennis delegation arrived Sunday upon the invitation of Tabak
commander BGen. Gerardo Barrientos Jr. to join the tournament, which is one of
the lined up activities for the division’s founding anniversary on May 5.
Askalani said, “at first we were hesitant to join
the tourney because the day falls on the scheduled Pacquiao and Mayweather fight
until we learned that a live public viewing woud be done at the headquarters
for us not to miss the chance of watching the great fight.”