Word: sarangani
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...take more than just popularity and money, both of which Pacquiao has by the truckload. On March 26, upon his return from the Clottey fight, he was mobbed by media and jubilant fans at the airport, before being driven in a bulletproof Chevrolet Tahoe guarded by armed police to Sarangani. Roughly the size of Rhode Island, Sarangani (pop. 411,713) is a coastal province where people scrape a living from fishing or farming. Pacquiao grew up in the province's sleepy town of Kiamba, and with one eye on the congressional campaign built a house there...
...slicker campaign this time. "I've already established my [political] machinery," he says. "It's like a car. It's fixed already. You just have to get in and drive it." He has the support of tycoon Senator Manny Villar, a presidential candidate, who joined him on his Sarangani homecoming. On the campaign trail, Pacquiao has fewer bodyguards separating him from adoring fans and voters. Warming up crowds on the campaign trail are his wife Jinkee and mother Dionisia, a.k.a. "Pac-Mom," both household names in the Philippines who were largely absent from his previous campaign...
...Pacquiao's main pitch to voters has remained unchanged since 2007: I understand the poor man's woes, while my opponent is aloof and élite. Roy Chiongbian doesn't claim to have the Almighty on his side, but then perhaps he doesn't need him so much. Sarangani is a family affair. The province's borders were drawn in 1992 by Chiongbian's late father; his mother was its first governor. The current congressman is his brother and the vice-governor his nephew. Incumbents have a natural advantage over challengers, since they have had years - in the Chiongbian family...
Running for Congress is a gamble with much higher stakes. Sarangani might be a small district, but political analyst de Vera estimates Pacquiao will have to spend up to $2 million "to stand a chance of winning." That's nothing by the standards of U.S. elections, but a fortune in a rural backwater with only about 270,000 registered voters. Eric Pineda, one of the boxer's bewildering array of advisers, calls $2 million a "paltry" sum. Another adviser, Jeng Gacal, says "the sky's the limit" when it comes to election spending...
...most Pac-Man fans the world over, the battle for Sarangani is a distant sideshow. The opponent that everyone really wants Pacquiao to fight is undefeated American welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. But first a deal must be sealed - the boxers could split $50 million, or the biggest purse in boxing history - and Mayweather must fight his compatriot Shane Mosley on May 1. Will Pacquiao take a break from his last hectic week of campaigning to watch the fight...