(Update) Nobody has gotten as festive a homecoming as Manny Pacquiao, who had most of this nation of 87 million awake hours before his arrival at 5:45 a.m. Friday, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which bears the name of the only other Filipino in recent years who has stirred so much fuss so early in the day. Amid tight security, the World Boxing Council International Super Featherweight boxing champ got out of Philippine Airlines Flight PR-103 from Los Angeles at around 5:45 a.m. Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, a longtime friend of Pacquiao’s, was at the NAIA early to lead the crowd of fans and well-wishers. As Pacquiao went down the escalator, Atienza put a sampaguita garland around the neck of the champ, who was wearing a black cowboy hat, with wife Jinky and Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, a longtime supporter, behind him. Sons Emmanuel Jr, 5; and Michael Stephen, 4, along with the champion's parents Rosalio and Dionisia, came quickly toward the champ for a welcome hug. "
Maraming maraming salamat sa inyo (Thank you so much to all of you)," Pacquiao told GMA’s Tina Panganiban-Perez. Paccquiao's mother, who could not even bear to watch the pay-per-view live telecast of his son’s rematch with Mexican Erik Morales, was at the airport shortly before 5 a.m., excited at seeing her son back home. His father, speaking through an interpreter in his native Cebuano, was with Dionisia, being interviewed by GMA reporter Lala Roque minutes before the new national hero landed. The first thing he would do, Rosalio said, would be to give his son a hug. From the airport Pacquiao went on to have breakfast with Atienza at the Manila Hotel. After a brief rest, they would hear mass at 8 a.m. at the Quiapo Church. From there the champion and the mayor would pay a courtesy call on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang and then ride a motorcade in the capital city. Pacquiao, born in Bukidnon and raised in General Santos City -- both in Mindanao -- is an adopted son of Manila. A fitting homecoming for the 28-year-old boxer. Pacquiao, after all, has been dubbed as the "Pambansang Kamao," literally the "national fist." At 7 p.m. Friday, Manila would also host a victory party for Pacquiao at Baywalk, along the historic Roxas Boulevard, formerly known as Dewey, after the American admiral who bombarded the city back in 1898 as Katipuneros battled the colonizing Spaniards for independence. Pacquiao, though nursing a slight fever, knocked out Morales in the third round of their 12-round rematch in Las Vegas last Nov. 19, with just three seconds left. Morales, dubbed "El Terrible," engaged the "Pacman" in a "let’s-get-this-over-with" slugfest as soon as the first-round bell sounded. For retaining his title, Pacquiao got a guaranteed pot of $3 million, plus a share in the take on pay-per-view revenues, and a shot at the WBC World Super Featherweight title, held by Marco Antonio Barrera, whom he last beat on Nov. 15, 2003, via technical knockout. Another hero’s welcome awaits Pacquiao in General Santos City, where he is having a P35-million house built, hopefully to be finished in time for his 28th birthday on Dec. 17. In an earlier interview, with GMA’s
24 Oras, Pacquiao's mother said that all she wanted from her son is to have her own vehicle. And his father? "Whatever he wants to give me," he said in Cebuano.
- GMANews.TV 
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