Filipino by Birth Christian by Grace

Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao defeated Marco Antonio Barrera tonight in a 12 round unanimous decision fight. While I was obviously hoping Manny would win, I felt a bit sorry for Barerra, considering it was his retirement fight and he lost. I was also hoping to see a knockout, but Pacquiao still won so it’s all good. Looks like it’s another good day to be Filipino.

I don’t know much about boxing, but the commentators mentioned him being pound for pound one of the best boxers ever. He’s the most popular Filipino athlete I know of, and gives a lot of Filipinos a reason to celebrate.

Also, did you notice that Manny’s English has improved during the interviews?

Prison overseer Byron Garcia has implemented a dancing rehabilitation program several years ago at the Cebu Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines. I think it’s a great idea, and it’s specially meaningful to me being half Cebuano. This YouTube video of their Thriller routine has received almost 7 million views. It’s creative and entertaining. During a CNN interview, Byron Garcia states, “We don’t have dumbbells here. We don’t have weights. We have dancing.” They’re forced to dance if they’re physically able to, which I’m sure some people would consider torture. Byron Garcia claims that there has not been any violent incidents in about a year and a half because of the success of the program. If dancing calms the prisoners and transforms the usually hostile environment, I’m all for it.