Barangays offer live telecast
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Sun.Star Cebu
28 April 2015
MAJORITY of the 80 barangays in Cebu City will be sponsoring free viewing of the Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. match on Sunday.
This way, boxing and Pacquaio fans in the city will have several options on where to watch the much-anticipated match, dubbed as the fight of the century.
In an interview yesterday, Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) President Phillip Zafra said that most of the 80 barangays will hold free pay-per-view (PPV) for their constituents as a way of supporting the Filipino boxing icon.
Among the barangays with free PPV are Basak Pardo, Basak San Nicolas, Carreta, Cogon Pardo, Mambaling, Paril, Poblacion Pardo, Santo Niño, Suba and Tisa.
In Zafra's barangay, Tisa, there will be three PPV venues— Tisa Elementary School sports complex, barangay sports complex, and another in a sitio.
"We added more venues because many people want to watch the fight," he said.
There are also three PPV venues in Cogon Pardo, one in the sports complex and two in the sitios, said Barangay Captain Harry Eran.
Gyms
In other barangays, the free screening of the fight will be held in their respective gyms.
The P2,500 cost of subscribing to PPV will be shouldered by the barangay officials.
But in the Rama Compound in Basak San Nicolas, it has been a tradition for Mayor Michael Rama and his family to sponsor the PPV screening.
The Rama family will be putting up tents for the viewers.
In his regular news conference yesterday, Rama said he wants Pacquiao to win.
"We cannot be betting on somebody who is boastful and who had been telling that he is better than Mohammad Ali. I really abhor his flamboyant posturing," he said.
Asked about his prediction, Rama jokingly answered, "He (Mayweather) will not even get into the ring. He will be knocked down by whatever. Wa ta kahibaw (We don't know)."
As in the previous years, Rama said he will be watching the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight at the Parklane Hotel together with other officials.
Pray
Former mayor and congressman Tomas Osmeña, on the other hand, will be watching the Pacquiao fight live at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas together with his son Miguel, said Councilor Margarita Osmeña.
Councilor Osmeña, though, will not be watching the fight but said, "I will be praying with the rest of you."
Ticket prices to watch the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in the MGM Grand range from US$1,500 to $7,500. But these were sold out within minutes.
But Pacquiao has found a way to give his countrymen free viewing options, paving the way for three television giants—ABSCBN, GMA 7 and TV 5—to unitedly simulcast the fight.
The live telecast will have some delay, though, because of commercials.
Sun.Star Cebu has compiled places for people to catch the fight as it happens.
Aside from the free viewing in the barangays, the Cebu Sports Institute in Barangay Sawang Calero will also have a free telecast courtesy of the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) and Phoenix Fuel.
First come, first serve
CCSC commissioner Chao Sy said that the venue can accommodate around 1,500 people.
“Anyone can come but it will be on a first-come-first-serve basis, because if we reach the limit, we won't allow you to come in,” he said.
“This is the third year that we will be hosting this, the venue was full in the last two years.”
Cebu Parklane International Hotel, a long-time host of Pacquiao's PPV fights, is offering a special lunch buffet with bottomless iced tea for P750 including the pass to the telecast.
Parklane's marketing and communication assistant Maureen Eliot said that this will be the first time they will open all of their four function halls since they started the PPV viewing eight years ago.
For those who are planning to spend time in the mall, SM City Cebu Cinema and Ayala Center Cebu are also offering a live telecast. SM offers regular viewing at P800 and P1,300 for Imax, which includes an event shirt. Ayala's ticket is sold at P800.
Raphael's Cafe Sports Bar and Grill in Guadalupe also has a live telecast at P750, which includes a meal and drinks including beer.
Cebu Coliseum will also have a PPV telecast.
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