Boxer Manny Pacquiao is helping an ice cream vendor in the Philippines who had a stroke rebuild his life. (AP Photo / Lee Jin-man)
Boxer Manny Pacquiao, long a hero in the Philippines, but recently upped his game.
At the end of last month, the 11-time world champion, who is 39 and a well-known Christian, met Manong Marciano, an ice cream vendor in General Santos City in Mindanao, who suffered from a stroke.
Pacquiao, now a Filipino senator, handed Marciano 3,000 Philippine pesos — about $57 — to help meet his financial needs and the educational needs of his kids, according to The Christian Post.
Pacquiao didn’t stop there — he raised the gift to 30,000 pesos — about $570, and offered the vender a job, a house and a lot, The Post reported.
A video of the good deed went viral on Facebook, complete with thousands of shares and comments.
“I want to provide opportunities for my fellow countrymen that will improve their situations. As a politician, I want to help create jobs so that I can bring them out of their poverty,” Pacquiao, who dropped out of school as a teen to help his impoverished family, told The Post. “I want to give them hope.
He added: "Boxing has been my passion, but public service is my calling. I love my boxing, but I realize now that is not what my life is all about.”
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