By Jason de Asis

BALER, Aurora, November 20, 2010–Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo has sought the grant of tax exemptions on the purse of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao in recognition of his legendary ring exploits, including his conquest of the World Boxing Council superwelterweight title – his eight in as many divisions – following his sensational victory over a game but badly outclassed Mexican warrior Antonio Margarito.

Angara-Castillo told newsmen that Pacquiao, an incumbent congressman representing Sarangani province, deserves tax exemption from his guaranteed purse of $15 million in the Margarito fight if only to serve as a small token of recognition for the honor and pride he single-handedly brought the Filipino nation.

“That was so inspiring for our country and our people to have a man like Pacquiao and I think it was never too much to ask for our government to perhaps consider a tax break for our boxing hero,” she said.

At the same time, she said if the government provides Pacquiao a tax break, she would suggest it to him to allocate a portion of the tax exemption for charity projects for poor people. “If he would do that, it would immortalize the man for what he really is: a man of the masses and a man for others,” she said.

Angara-Castillo issued her statements shortly after Pacquiao, recognized as the world’s no. 1 boxer pound-for-pound, annexed the WBC superwelterweight belt with a virtuoso performance against the former three-time world champion Margarito, supposedly the bigger, taller and stronger foe in a classic David vs Goliath match-up at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas Sunday.

With the triumph, Pacquiao now is King of the Ring in eight divisions following his reign as champion in the flyweight, superbantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight, superlightweight and welterweight divisions.

No one comes close to Pacquiao in terms of the number of championships won per division, with the closest at six, held by James Toney and the legendary Oscar dela Hoya who Pacquiao demolished in nine rounds during their classic encounter dubbed the “Dream Match” in 2008.

Aside from his guaranteed purse, Pacquiao also stands to earn another $5 million from his pay-per-view (PPV) shares. However, at least one-third of his purse will be deducted due to the socalled “tax bite” in the US.   

Angara-Castillo, who watched the fight on TV and suffered a hand injury by banging her two hands each time the Pacman connected, said she admired the latter not only for his exceptional ring skills but also for his human compassion. She said that Pacquiao was not all brute force, he was also concerned  about the physical condition of his opponent which became evident when he seemed to be holding back his punches in the last two rounds to prevent the badly mangled Margarito from further punishment.

“It was pretty obvious during the last two rounds that he could have knocked Margarito out cold which was a more spectacular ending but with victory in his hands, he seemed to hold back on his punches,” she said. (Jason de Asis)