BY NICK GIONGCO
Life before the lockdown for Manny Pacquiao was a blur.
During the pre-coronavirus world, Pacquiao made it a point to attend to his Senate duties since he had no scheduled fight in the foreseeable future.
Whenever he wasn’t on the Senate floor, Pacquiao would either be attending a political meeting or immersed in monitoring the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has turned Pacquiao’s daily routine upside down.
In the past, Sunday was the only day of the week when he made himself available to all his five kids although there were a few times when this wasn’t the case.
The past three weeks, Pacquiao has remained at home in their Dasmarinas Village residence.
From somebody who hardly had any time allotted for family, Pacquiao is now making up for lost time.
“The last time I went out was when we (Senate) worked on the P270-billion that will soon be given to the people,” said Pacquiao.
That was March 23 and since then, Pacquiao hasn’t been out, opting to
remain indoors to spend quality time with Jinkee, Jimwell, Michael, Queenie, Princess and Israel.
“This has never happened to us because I was always out,” said Pacquiao, 41, boxing’s only eight-division world champion and reigning World Boxing Association welterweight titlist.
“Bumabawi talaga dahil we’ve been bonding very well the last three
weeks,” said Pacquiao, who, at one point, dared the four kids to try Ginamos (bagoong), a fermented shrimp paste that is a staple in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“This is what we ate when we had nothing to eat,” said Pacquiao in between bites of steamed bananas dipped in Ginamos on his social media account.
Turning to his passion, main passion that is boxing, Pacquiao said
he is looking forward to the day when everything gets back to normal.
“I’m just waiting for this (pandemic) to subside and then I will plan my next fight.”
Told about the possibility of hanging up his gloves in the event he fails to land a fight in 2020, Pacquiao insists retirement is not on his radar screen just yet.
“Malakas pa tayo and I feel young,” said Pacquiao, whose last fight shocked the boxing world when he beat previously undefeated Keith Thuman, ten years his junior.
“Wala pa, hindi pa tayo mag-retire,” he added.