MANNY PACQUIAO: AT HOME AND AT PEACE WITH HIS MUSIC

I spent about five long hours with Filipino boxing icon and Saranggani Congressman Manny Pacquiao in his Dadiangas Heights Mansion in Gen. Santos City last night.

The many unfamiliar faces who used to hang around him and crowd the small frame of the TV camera whenever he was interviewed were no longer around.

After playing three games of basketball with Team Pacquiao and later watching his father play with younger players, Manny ushered me and my companions to the huge Bulwagan where he played the piano and sang two songs before we took our dinner.

“He has more time for me now and the children,” Jinkee, who was a picture of a happy wife, confided as we both watched Manny play basketball.

Manny himself admitted that his life has changed totally after he decided to dedicate himself to the Lord.

“I am at peace now. I don’t drink anymore, I don’t go out at night and I don’t womanize and I thank God for this change in my life,” he said.

As he played the piano and sang one religious song and a Beatles ditty, I saw a peaceful Manny Pacquiao.

“If you know how to play chess, he would love to play chess after basketball,” Jinkee said.

It was a beautiful sight to see Manny Pacquiao, who used to move around like a twirling Top trying to talk to and entertain endless people around him, walk with ease and sing songs of peace.