DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/13 November) — A Chinese restaurant in Davao City had a stall installed on the side of the national highway in Matina, to promote its special Sunday treat: Pacquiao and Margarito for lunch. In Cagayan de Oro City, a cellphone company is offering one seat at the Xavier University Gym for a load of P30. Elsewhere in Mindanao, as in the rest of the county, entrepreneurs are cashing in on the fight Saturday night in Texas (Sunday morning in the Philippines) between world boxing champion and Sarangani Representative Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito of Mexico.
But not everyone cashing in on Pacquiao’s fight is doing it for profit. Others are riding on the the Pacmania to help raise funds for a cause.
In Bangkal, Davao City, for instance, parishioners are urged to watch the fight in a building in the neighborhood, to raise funds for the finishing touches on the new church building. Tickets are at P250, inclusive of packed lunch.
In Surigao City, the newly-finished 200-seater ampitheater of Surigao del Norte at the Provincial Sports Complex, will be opened to the public Sunday with the Pacquiao-Margarito fight as its first feature. Tickets are at P150 on a first come, first served basis.
In Cagayan de Oro, theaters in the city’s major malls are offering a silverscreen view for P300. Restaurants around the city are offering the fight live to their customers, for a fee.
In Zone 5 in Bulua, cockfight aficionados were not talking about Sunday’s ‘s “sultada” in the cockpit. They were dabbling as boxing fight analysts.
There were no bet takers for “biya” which is Margarito, even if the odds are at 6-10 (a P6 peso bet for Margarito can win P10). Later on, Dennis said the betting would be on what round Margarito would be knocked out by the congressman-boxer.
In the barangay covered courts, barangay workers are starting to install widescreens for free live viewing on pay-per-view. (BenCyrus G. Ellorin and Roel Catoto/MindaNews)