THE PACMAN FEVER
by omrelaP
Manny “Pacman” Paquiao is the Philippines’ most heralded sports hero.
Sports enthusiasts from all sectors of Philippine society had been faithfully trailing the path of his great saga from obscurity to fame.
Manny Pacquiao’s promoter has lately closed a deal for an October 6, 2007 rematch in the city of Las Vegas with Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera, one of the most feared boxers in his weight class.
In order to prepare himself for this great boxing challenge, The Pacman chose to train in Cebu City, the place of his former manager who moulded him to become the great boxer that he is today.
Despite the honors, the successes and the adulations that Pacman got from his countrymen, he remains the same humble fellow that he once was. His feet still touch flat on the ground as he jogged around the local sports center, even if mobs of swooning admirers approach him more often than not for a picture or an autograph. Non-joggers have becomne instant jogging enthusiasts just to be able to run with the Pacman. These things are not uncommon in Cebu today: Students skipping their classes, workers taking leaves of absence, local policitcians taking time out from sessions, press people running to one direction and ordinary people rushing to the Cebu City Sports Complex all for one reason, just to get a glimpse of the Filipino hero.
The Pacman fever has just become an epidemic in Cebu today.
The Pacman has become the Philippines'' symbol of strength, descipline and hope.