Pacquiao arrives at Manila Hotel

"Masayang-masaya ako, kasama ko mga anak ko," WBC International Super Featherweight Champ Manny Pacquiao told journalists, who were elbowing each other amid an excited crowd of well-wishers in front of the Manila Hotel, where the champ and his entourage, led by Manila Mayor Lilto Atienza, arrived at about 6:18 a.m. Friday. Barely able to make it through the crowd, a beaming Pacquiao finally got to the elevators to go to the fifth floor of the historic hotel to take a rest at the Aguinaldo Suite, before having breakfast with Atienza. After breakfast, they would proceed to the Quiapo Church to hear mass at about 8 a.m. Pacquiao planed in at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at about 5:45 a.m. from Los Angeles. Amidt tight security, the champ got out of Philippine Airlines Flight PR-103. Atienza, a longtime friend of Pacquiao’s, was also at the NAIA early to lead the 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 Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, a longtime supporter, behind him. Sons Emmanuel Jr, 5; and Michael Stephen, 4, along with parents Rosalio and Dionisia, came quickly towards 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. His 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 as he speaks only Cebuano, was with Dionisia, being interviewed by GMA reporter Lala Roque minutes before the new national hero landed. The first thing he would do, he said, would be to give his son a hug. After hearing Mass, Pacquiao's party would pay a courtesy call on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang and then go on a motorcade in the capital city, where the champ, born in Bukidnon and raised in General Santos City, both in Mindanao, is an adopted son. 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 Mexican Erik Morales in the third round of their 12-round rematch in Las Vegas last Nov. 19, with just three second left. Morales, dubbed "El Terrible," engaged the "Pacman" as early as the first round in a "let’s-get-this-over-with" slugfest as soon as the first-round bell sounded. For retaining his title, Pacquiao got $3 milliion 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-milliion house built, hopefully to be finished in time for his 29th birthday on Dec. 17. In an earlier interview, with GMA’s 24 Oras, his mother said that all she wanted from her son is her own vehicle. And his father? "Whatever he wants to give me," he said in Cebuano. - GMANews.TV