'Ondoy' tragedy makes Pacquiao eager to win

Feeling for the thousands of victims of tropical storm “Ondoy," Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said he’s now more eager than ever to win his upcoming fight with Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico to give Filipinos something to be cheerful about amid this tragedy. Pacquiao is holding his training camp in Baguio City for his Nov. 14 “Firepower" showdown with WBO welterweight champ Cotto, having his workout in the summer capital when the deadly storm ravaged Metro Manila and surrounding provinces over the weekend. “Mas lalo akong nasasabik at lalo akong lalaban nang matindi para sa inyong lahat sa kabila ng trahedyang ito upang ang aking pagpapanalo sa ring ang makapagbigay man lang ng maliit na kasiyahan sa inyong lahat," Pacquiao wrote in his “Kumbinasyon" column for Abante and Philboxing.com on Thursday. The “Pacman" has earlier announced that he's donating P1-million to the victims of “Ondoy" through his MP Foundation and reiterated his plans to personally distribute relief goods in Manila during his training break on Sunday. “Susubukan kong bumaba sa Manila sa Linggo upang personal na makita kayong lahat at makapagbigay man lang ulit ng kahit na maliit na saya, dahil alam ko at nararamdaman ko ang inyong pagdadalamhati at kalungkutan sa mga panahong ito. Sa mga namatayan dulot ng bagyong Ondoy, nakikiramay ako sa inyo at sana naman ay maibsan ko ang inyong nararamdaman," he said.
“Susubukan kong mamigay ng mga pagkain, gamot, tubig, at mga damit sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo at makakasama ko ang aking pangkat. Pipilitin kong puntahan kayong lahat pero dahil na rin sa iisa ang aking katawan, hindi ko maipapangako na makikita ko kayong lahat. Kailangan ko ring bumalik sa Baguio kinabukasan upang ipagpatuloy ang training," he added. Pacquiao is set to hold a media workout in his Baguio training camp Thursday afternoon with Top Rank boss Bob Arum and members of the local and international media, including a TV crew from HBO, in attendance. - GMANews.TV