Manny Pacquiao Says He is ‘Not Afraid to Die’ for the Philippines Fighting COVID-19

Boxing icon and senator of the Philippines Manny Pacquiao faces the coronavirus (COVID-19) head-on as the infected cases in his home country continue to rise.

Over the weekend, Senator Pacquiao said he is willing to risk it all so that he can help those who have been severely affected by the pandemic.

The Filipino lawmaker told the Manila Bulletin that he is “not afraid to die” for his people.

 

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Look around you – make sure you count what you see, and not what you lack.

A post shared by Manny Pacquiao (@mannypacquiao) on Feb 14, 2020 at 3:23am PST

According to Pacquiao, what he fears most is the potential for the poor and those “living in the streets” to resort to looting if they don’t get fed in the coming weeks.

“There will be chaos. And this is what I fear would happen,” Pacquaio said in part Tagalog.

Pacquiao had earlier donated five buses to the Duterte government so that health workers could be ferried around Metro Manila.

 

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My Prayer Message to all Filipinos and the World. In All Crisis, there is Christ! 🙏 #PrayerToTheNation

A post shared by Manny Pacquiao (@mannypacquiao) on Mar 22, 2020 at 7:26am PDT

Pacquiao, who has been serving as a senator of the Philippines since 2016, has recently been seen making rounds in parts of the country affected by the disease. 

He said he does not intend to slow down even with the serious threats to his health as he feels it is his duty as a leader to risk his life.  

“If you are a leader, you have to be a frontliner,” the 41-year-old politician was quoted as saying.

“You are a leader so you have to lead and let people see that you are with them. You can’t hide just because you are afraid to die. I grew up poor so I know what they feel.”

 

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We’re excited to announce the Jack Ma Foundation, in partnership with @PacquiaoFoundation is pledging 50,000 test kits to combat COVID-19 in the Philippines. With everything that’s happening around the world today, there is no better time to unite and do whatever we can to help each other. Thank you @JackMaFoundation for this generous donation! 🇵🇭✊ #PacquiaoFoundation #MannysCorner #JackMaFoundation

A post shared by Manny Pacquiao (@mannypacquiao) on Mar 16, 2020 at 9:59am PDT

Pacquiao is so committed to addressing the crisis that he is willing to sideline his boxing career for now.

“Let us focus our attention on this first,” said the boxing pro, who had earlier sought to compete in a fight in July.

Pacquiao has also teamed up with Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma to donate 500,000 face masks to help the Philippine government in its fight against COVID-19, ABS-CBN reports. He is now just waiting for the arrival of testing kits and face masks from China.

Feature Image via Getty (Left), @MannyPacquiao (Right)

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Contributer : NextShark