Pacquiao's phone is ringing continually in the car, and each time the theme from "The Godfather" fills the sealed cabin. Ten cases of red wine are about to be hauled into the living room for the after-party. Three laundry-sized bags of boxing gloves sit in the entry, waiting for his signature. Home is where this line of cars is eventually headed, where two makeup artists and two hairdressers are setting up shop. During the past week, I have seen him be serenaded with "Happy Birthday" an infinite number of times in a near-infinite number of places: a sporting goods store in a high-end Manila mall, his Senate office, the Senate floor, his home. Pacquiao's birthday is only half-jokingly considered an unofficial national holiday. It's his 41st birthday, and preparations for tonight's massive and lavish party - an annual exercise in opulence, idolatry and patronage - have been in the works for weeks. They have no idea the country's most famous man is behind the darkened windows and chirping motorcycles. Pacquiao looks out the window at the endless scroll of tired faces peering down from dirty buses and up from tiny cars on this eternally congested beltway. The Senate session has recessed for Christmas, and the holiday traffic has turned a 10-minute drive on Manila's main highway, the EDSA, into an hour. Outside the windows, the alleys and side streets clog with people and motorbikes and bicycles. ![]() There are two police motorcycles in front, weaving around Manila traffic, their cartoonish horns burping out pleas for space that doesn't exist. A security van hugging the back bumper is filled with Pacquiao's assistants and several members of the National Police, their fingers on the triggers of the M16s that lie across their laps. SENATOR MANNY PACQUIAO is sitting in the second row of a black government Escalade, his left foot on the center console, a 9 mm handgun in the seatback in front of him. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĪ week in Manila with Manny Pacquiao: senator, boxer.
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