But there’s one show they cannot afford to miss, even if they would be packing up things by that time as the exercises are due to end on April 30, the fight between Filipino boxing idol Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather on May 3.
“I will watch the fight and all I’m gonna say is Go Pacquiao!,” said Col. David Womack, a native of Roanoke, Virginia who is with the Department of Military Instructions, United States Military Academy and Air Command and Staff College.
“Absolutely,” Womack said of his support for Pacquaio. Womack, who has been part of the US Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, said he admires Pacquiao for his quality in being the people’s champ.
“I admire that he is humble. That he is professional. That he cares about his community,” he said.
He believes Pacquiao “is a great representative not only of the Philippines but an ambassador to the United States.”
Womack said participants in the on-going Balikatan are in hard trainings and got no spare time for anything else.
“We’re focused on our training,” he said. Watching the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout will be a great relief to them. Col. Lawrence Mina, commander of the Combined Armed Forces (Carfor) said the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army has prepared for a wide screen viewing of the fight.
He himself, he said, will watch the fight with his daughter back in Metro Manila.
