WHEN ERIC PINEDA first sat down with Manny Pacquiao in 2004, just when the boxer was about to make it big, he did not find it easy to spot the diamond in the GenSan boy’s rough coating.
“He was just wearing jogging pants, a jacket and a beanie cap,” recalls Pineda, a veteran publicist, political and marketing consultant, who is white-haired and speaks with the husky, imposing voice of a longtime sports commentator.
He is now the business manager of Pacquiao, after the boxer and Rod Nazario, the man who hired Pineda to sell Manny as a product endorser, had a falling out a few years back. He told Manny in those early days, “You win your fight with Morales and your whole world will change, 360 degrees.”
And that was what happened. After Pacquiao won his second bout with Morales with a TKO in Las Vegas in 2006, there was no stopping the fast and furious pace of the Pacquiao phenomenon. He was fighting in the biggest boxing venues in the world, knocking out Oscar dela Hoya in 2008, declared the number one “pound-for-pound” boxer in the world by boxing bible Ring Magazine, stopping for photo ops with the likes of Mark Wahlberg, and being followed by TMZ.
New and improved
Clearly, the “’siyano hip-hop” look Manny sported in ’94 is now but a blurry memory tucked in the farthest nook of his walk-in closet. These days he is making the rounds of parties and press appearances either in a bold colored argyle sweater and a matching painter’s cap ala Pharell Williams, or speaking to fans in England in a windowpane-patterned gray Giorgio Armani suit paired with spanking new leather shoes in tan.
Observers say people began seeing a new and improved Manny when he moved the parting of his hair from the Palito-style middle to the more proper and gentlemanly left.
Suddenly, Manila’s fashionable gay men were asking each other: “Would you do Manny?” The answer: “Yes.”
After all, while he obviously doesn’t look like a fashion model, one could say he embodies the modern GQ archetype: A successful man in a well-made suit, an athletic body underneath, supple skin thanks to years of training and discipline, and for that bit of edge, a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee perfectly framing a smile that is pleasant, naughty and aware of where he is in the world order.
Pacquiao was recently named by Time Magazine as one of the world’s most influential people of 2009. He also joins the likes of Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant in this year’s Celebrity 100 List in Forbes Magazine, which reports that he earned $40 million from the second half of 2008 to the first half of 2009 alone, making him the sixth highest paid athlete in the world.
Just recently, he appeared in the latest Nike TVC where he shared screen time with Bryant, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova. You can’t get any bigger than that.
On Philippine shores, his name these days is only associated with the top brands: McDonalds, San Miguel Beer, Ginebra and Smart. Other major endorsements run the gamut from flavored energy drinks to pain relief tablets.
Snazzy style
He is our very own Million-Dollar Man, and he is playing it to the hilt. But the snazzy personal style didn’t happen overnight, or because a stylist was made to join his entourage.
Eric and his wife Macy, a publicist in Manila, began by giving Manny clothes as gifts, stuff he could wear to appearances and functions.
“We tried to convince him that if you look at your contemporaries in his category, all of them wear suits. So dahan-dahan nasanay naman, simula sa jeans muna, then long sleeves; slowly the suit came into the picture.”
The suit has another layer of attraction for Manny: He had recently seen “The Godfather 2” and thought Al Pacino’s wardrobe was something he could adopt. Hence, the grey windowpane prints, the occasional vests over a crisp white shirt, finished off with a derby hat. He sometimes shops with his entourage or with family, going to stores like Banana Republic for casuals and relaxed suits, Salvatore Ferragamo and Armani for the more formal outfits.
Shopping haunts
He likes going to the Metro Park Mall in LA and scouring the Ed Hardy stores there, also True Religion, Rock and Republic and Seven for All Mankind. For shoes, he prefers the ones with narrow square tips, from Louis Vuitton or Ferragamo.
But the Pacman’s accessory-of-the-moment are clearly the hats. He recently bought $2,000 worth of hats in LA, from the fedoras made popular by Justin Timberlake to painter’s caps and the raffia styles that reminds Manny of home.
“Buri ’yan,” he would say. “Gumagawa kami niyan sa GenSan.”
If there is anything left from what the Pinedas call Manny’s “hip-hopper” days, it’s his fascination for bling.
“As most Asians and Filipinos, you associate your success with the watch you wear, so when he won the Barrera fight, he bought his first Rolex watch, a Daytona with a mother-of-pearl face,” says Pineda.
This was followed by another Rolex after the last Morales match, a bezel diamond-studded piece. Recently, Pineda reports, Manny has taken to wearing a Patek Philippe for more formal occasions. Manny also has an 18k gold necklace with a pendant shaped like two boxing gloves, also diamond-studded, a gift from one of his sponsors.
These days, when in the Philippines, Manny shuttles between his palatial home in General Santos and the family home in Brentville in Santa Rosa, Laguna, a property the Pacquiaos acquired because of its proximity to the Brent International School where Manny’s two sons are enrolled.
When work demands that he be mostly in Manila, for tapings of his show “Pinoy Records,” for example, and the Robin Padilla-headlined teleserye “Totoy Bato,” he mostly stays at the Renaissance Hotel where he and his entourage of 10 to 15 people (which includes his lawyer, bodyguards, personal masseur) occupy top-money suites.
Bullet-proof cars
Team Pacquiao drives around the city in a couple of bullet-proof vehicles: A Hummer 2 and an Escalade. Pineda says his ward is really not a diehard car fan, anyway.
“For him it’s just a way to get him from point A to point B,” he says.
Still, the right car is part of the star package. “When we started working, I asked him to buy a new car. ‘Manny Pacquiao ka eh.’ He bought a brand new Pajero which he uses when he’s in Manila. And then he bought a big trailer, a Porsche Cayenne na binili sa US tapos inuwi dito, a Mercedes SL 500 sportscar. He wanted to buy a Lamborghini but I advised him not to. ’Di mo kailangan yan, baka maaksidente ka pa.’”
Clearly, he is more keen on acquiring real estate property. Apart from the Gensan and Brentville homes, the Pacquiaos, says the Pinedas, have several other properties: A townhouse near Medical City in Ortigas, a house in BF Homes Parañaque and another in Davao, all bought within the past four years.
The house in LA is already in its finishing touches, with wife Jinkee being very hands-on when it comes to the choice in furniture, in consultation with an American interior designer. The house, a 4,500-sq m property located in an upscale neighborhood dotted with celebrity homes, is reported to have cost $2.17 million and was bought in March this year.
While the Pacquiaos are clearly learning the ropes of living big, Pineda insists his ward’s character hasn’t changed much. His idea of a party is still a big celebration with all of his friends where everything is happening all at once: Drinking, darts, billiards, singing, dancing, card games.
“He is still as grounded as when I first met him,” says Pineda.
Giving back
And the guy knows how to give back. He has consistently partnered with the PCSO and Pagcor for charity projects. He is building a village called Pacquiao Heights in General Santos which will have factories that will give jobs and benefit the people of Saranggani.
Indeed, the poor boy from Gensan who dropped out of school at a very young age to help his mother sell bread has done very well for himself. He hangs out with Hollywood stars, shakes hands with state leaders and tycoons, shops in the best stores, and dines in the best restaurants.
How does Manny Pacquiao order in a place like, say, the upscale Nuvo at Manila’s Greenbelt restaurant row?
“I would usually order for him,” says Pineda. “Alam ko naman ang gusto niya eh, basta may beef, chicken, fish. No pork.”
Pacquiao may not be the best person to peruse a fine dining menu, but the guy certainly knows how to reward excellent service. The last time Team Pacquiao checked out of the Renaissance Hotel in Makati, the staff bid their very important guest goodbye with bigger smiles than usual.
The tip Manny left them: P100,000. In style parlance, that’s what you call a flourish.
Reprinted from Filipino Style, California-based magazine for Fil-Americans.
This article is from lifestyle.inquirer.net
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