Victory lifts spirits in Leyte

TACLOBAN , Philippines   â€“ Thousands of typhoon survivors erupted in jubilation yesterday to celebrate their boxing idol Manny Pacquiao’s victory that gave them a brief respite from the enormous destruction and rebuilding that lies ahead.

“It felt like I got my house back,” said street sweeper Ardel Nebasa, who lost his home in tsunami-like storm surges that ravaged Tacloban City on Nov. 8.

Pacquiao dominated American Brandon Rios to clinch the WBO International welterweight crown in Macau.

Displaced families, aid workers and soldiers jumped from their seats and broke into thunderous applause as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, comprehensively beat his younger and taller opponent.

Officials hope that watching Pacquiao’s triumph against Rios would help traumatized survivors take their minds off the horrific devastation wrought by the typhoon and inspire them to pick up the pieces from the storm that killed more than 5,200 people.

“I was so happy and I wanted to cry,” said Nebasa, who watched the match with his son and thousands of others on a TV screen set up in a public plaza in Tacloban City. “It would have felt like another storm has hit if he lost.”

Another survivor waved a cardboard placard that read: “We’re for Pacquiao, We shall rise again.” Many jumped repeatedly in joy.

Thousands of residents also cheered at Tacloban’s Astrodome stadium and watched the fight on a giant screen, their view partly obscured by the light filtering through holes in the basketball gym’s ceiling. One man carried a Philippine flag.

Local authorities set up wide screens in three locations in Tacloban City, including one at the damaged airport for foreign and local aid workers and security forces helping clear debris and collect dead bodies.

At an open-air plaza the size of a football field, surrounded by parked dump trucks, fork lifts and buses, a large crowd gathered to watch the fight under a hot sun. Some climbed on trees.

At one point, heavily-armed soldiers emerged from a tank, sat on top of the armored vehicle and craned their necks to watch the bout.

“From the start to finish, Manny showed his champion form. For a moment, I forgot the miseries around me. Manny helped pull a painful thorn on our side,” Vicente Olang, 66, a retired village watchman, said.

At temporary shelters, there was no sign of the pain of disaster on their faces as they cheered noisily and clapped every time Pacquiao landed a blow on Rios’ head, face or body.

“I am so very, very happy. Manny gave us something to cheer about in these times of despair,” said Sonia Reyes, 35, whose house was severely damaged by the surge brought by the typhoon. “Manny’s victory is an inspiration for us to get back on our feet again.”

When the bell rang to signal the end of the 12-round match, many spectators in Tacloban threw their baseball caps, shirts and pieces of cardboard into the air, even before the result was officially announced.

Pacquiao has dedicated his comeback fight to storm victims and promised to visit Tacloban and outlying regions that the storm had turned into a corpse-strewn wasteland.