Sen. Manny Pacquiao revisited his home province Sarangani Saturday to pay homage and provide aid to the people who helped him when he was still very poor and his family had to eat scraps just to survive.
Speaking before residents of the municipality of Malapatan, Pacquaio recalled the hardships that his family had to go through just to be able to fight hunger.
There were times when he had to collect fish gills from the market and cook them as lunch or dinner, or both. He also had to collect rotten bread from the bakery where he worked as “panadero” just to feed his mother and his siblings.
He related that his mother, Mommy Dionisia, would just cry in despair as she advised her children to drink plenty of water just to fill their empty stomach.
Pacquiao told the residents his experience thought him not to lose hope and has strengthened his resolve to fight for the poor who are constantly robbed and abused by corrupt politicians.
Using his own money, Pacquio has distributed grocery packs and P1000 cash to Malapatan residents. Before that, he was in the province of Sulu and Tawi-tawi and in Zamboanga City to also distribute aid to poor residents through his #MuntingPagtulong Project.
He said that if only rich politicians would all pitch in and share their wealth to the poor, not a single Filipino would go hungry and no one would ever have to feed on scraps just like he did before he became one of the world’s greatest professional boxer.
“ If all these rich politicians could also share their wealth and would stop stealing from people, not a single Filipino would ever experience hunger and our country would be a lot better,” Pacquaio said.