Speech by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the Handover Ceremony of Manny Pacquiao Memorabilia

Una siyempre ang idol nating lahat, ang kampeon, our champion hindi lamang sa boksing kung hindi sa lahat ng kanyang katangian bilang isang Pilipino – ang ating minamahal na champion, Senator Manny Pacquiao. [applause]

Of course, the officials and members of the PSC led by Pato Gregorio; officials and members of the Paralympic Committee led by my former classmate Mike Barredo; lahat ng ating national athlete; of course, the First Lady Liza, who has played a large part in putting all of this together; [applause] distinguished guests; ladies and gentlmen.

Magandang hapon sa inyong lahat.

What can I say about Manny Pacquiao and his boxing career that hasn’t been said before? Because lahat – all the superlatives that can possibly be used, all the praise that can possibly be had by an athlete have already been heaped upon him and well deserved.

And today, we are given the opportunity to be in his reflected glory. Dahil alam naman natin that – there is no other boxer – nalampasan mo pa pati si Muhammad Ali eh – there is no other boxer, there is no other athlete, for that matter, who gained the plaudits all around the world and of course in the Philippines.

Saan ka naman nakakita ng atletang Pilipino na pagka may laban, pagka may – ‘yung nangyayari pagka may laban, ‘yung putukan sa Mindanao nagsi-ceasefire muna para manood sila kay Manny Pacquiao. [laughter]

Where would you hear… Where did you ever hear of such a thing? Naalala ko noong build up sa Hatton fight nasa London kami. Marami akong kaibigan na Ingles. Eh ‘di sabi nila, “How is Manny?” “How is Manny?” Ganoon. Idol na idol ka.

Sabi nila mahirap – hirap na hirap sila kasi mahal na mahal ka hindi nila alam kung kanino sila kakampi dahil si Hatton galing doon sa kanila pero ikaw ‘yung idol nila.

Noong pauwi naman sila – noong pauwi naman kami nasa Hong Kong kami noong actual na laban so naghanap kami ng lugar kung saan kami makapanood. Eh ‘di nakahanap kami ng sports bar. Remember Liza we went – nakahanap kami ng sports bar. Nagpunta kami sa sports bar manonood kami. Ito na ‘yung mga undercard ‘yan naglalaban. Pumasok ‘yung – may mga pumasok na mga Ingles. Tapos nandoon sa likod namin.

Ayan na sabi ko kami nag-aalala kami sabi ko alam mo inaalala ko dahil alam namin si Hatton ang lakas sumuntok nun eh. Sabi ko baka masaktan si ano – baka masaktan si Manny. Baka ano delikado ‘yan dahil ang lakas nga sumuntok iyon ang pama niya malakas siyang sumuntok.

Eh ‘di ayan na nag-umpisa na ‘yung fight. Palabas pa lang kayo, palabas pa lang. Nagsisigawan na ‘yung mga Ingles na ganoon. Pag-ano nung bell, “pang” sisigaw ‘yung mga Ingles. Bigla na lang may narinig ako ‘yung mga Pinay, “Hey! Shut up! Just shut up,” kasi Hatton sila nang Hatton. [laughter] Iyon pala mga asawa nila mga Pinay na talagang hinahawi nila. “No, no, Manny Pacquiao! No, no, Manny Pacquiao!”

Sabi ko talagang ibang klase, ibang klase. Totoo ‘yun. Totoo ‘yan. That’s a true story. Nagulat ako kasi sabi ko bigla na lang… At saka talagang sinasaktan nila, “Oh, shut up! Shut up! shut up!” ganoon.

Sabi ko “bakit?” “Hindi asawa namin ‘yan pero hindi sila puwedeng mag-cheer para kay Hatton. Kailangan si Manny Pacquiao.”

Iyon ang naging experience ng lahat at maaga pa ‘yun. Sabi ko pagkatapos nung laban sabi ko maling-mali naman ako. Inaalala ko si Manny baka masaktan, second round pa lang tulog na si Hatton. [laughter]

Kaya naman makita mo tapos tuloy-tuloy, tuloy-tuloy lahat nung laban mo nakita – pinakita mo talaga na ang galing-galing mo, ang galing-galing mo.

At saka there was a time… Naalala ko ano bang laban ‘yun? Kakapanalo lang nung Celtics na NBA na finals. Eh ‘di pinakita nila mayroong coverage nandoon si Manny. Tapos na, nanalo na naman. Pumasok ‘yung kapitan ng Celtics, sabi mo, “Hey, you’re my idol!” “No! You’re my idol!” sabi niya sa’yo. [laughter]

Ganoon kakilala, that is Manny Pacquiao and that is the way he was known all over the world. And we can say that sa buong kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, there was never a time when we were more proud to be Filipino than when Manny was winning all those fights and saying and… But hindi lang kasi napakagaling niya, never niya kinalimutan ang pagka-Pinoy niya. [applause]

Biruin mo pumunta kami sa birthday – ‘yung pumunta kami sa birthday niya, pinakanta siya, ang kinanta niya pasigaw-sigaw pa, “Pinoy ako! Pinoy ako! Pinoy ako!” Iyon para sa akin ang talagang pinakamalaking bagay.

Gaya ng sabi niyang salita, these are the souvenirs or the memorabilia from my journey. But more importantly this is the Filipino people and he has never forgotten that. And that was always a source of admiration dahil maraming Pilipinong sumikat sa iba’t ibang – hindi lang sa boksing, pero sa iba’t ibang… Kung minsan parang hindi na nila – parang hindi na Pinoy ‘yung kausap mo eh. Parang nakalimutan nila ang pagka-Pinoy nila, nakalimutan nila doon sila lumaki, nakalimutan nila doon sila sumikat.

Ngunit si Manny never, never mo mararamdaman ‘yan. And you cannot find a more humble, a more devoted, and God-fearing person than Manny Pacquiao. Kaya no matter how many – gaano kasikat siya, gaano kakilala.

There was many – nag-survey eh noong nanalo – one of your last fights, nag-survey sila na the most famous person in the world was Manny Pacquiao. Kilala ka kahit saan sa buong mundo. And that for me sabi namin, “Pinoy ‘yan, Pinoy ‘yan” huwag niyong kakalimutan. “Pilipino ‘yan. Pilipino ‘yan.”

At hindi namin makakalimutan ‘yun. The time that we felt the glory of being Filipino. Hindi lang kami proud, naging mayabang talaga kami. “Ano? Ano? Kami may Manny Pacquiao. Kayo ba may Manny Pacquiao kayo? Wala! Kami may Manny Pacquiao kami.” [laughter]

Ganoon ang pakiramdam. Iyan ang dinala mo sa aming lahat. Dinala mo sa Pilipino, sa bawat isang Pilipino both those living here in the Philippines and those abroad. At ginawa mong fans ang buong mundo, naging supporter mo, naging fan mo dahil napakagaling mo.

But there is a side also to Manny that maybe most people do not know about. I remember when we went for the dinner during the award sa Elorde at pinuntahan namin at lumabas lahat ng mga

boksingero na wala na silang hanap-buhay.

At ‘yung iba, tinamaan na, nagkasakit, nagkaramdaman. Lahat ‘yun tinulungan ni Manny. Hindi niya sinasabi kahit na kanino. Kung hindi nila in-announce doon sa programa na ‘yun, nobody would know about it.

Ganyan ang ugali, ganyan ang pagkatao ng ating Manny Pacquiao.

So, hindi lang siya champion sa boxing. He is a champion of humanity. He is a champion as a Filipino. He is a champion as a man. And he is a champion in all our hearts and he will always be our champion. He will always be our Filipino champion. [applause]

Manny, maraming, maraming salamat sa’yo. [applause]

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