Why is Manny Pacquiao called "Pacman"?

I saw this trivia from "Kuya Kim" Atienza, whom I think is the new "Walking Encyclopedia" in the Philippines after the late "Ka Ernie" Baron, in the news program TV Patrol World of my former employer ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation. He discussed why People's Champ Manny Pacquiao's monicker is "Pacman".

I am sure many of you, or your family members and friends, have seen it on tv. But for those who did not, this is a pretty good trivia to educate the kids.

Why is Manny Pacquiao called "Pacman"?

Pacman was derived from the first three letters of the champ's name in inverted arrangement: PACQUIAO MANNY.

Get the first three letters of the last name and likewise of the first name, it will be: PAC MAN. Join them it is PACMAN.

A brief history

Manny Pacquiao was called "The Destroyer" before his first fight with Marco Antonio Barrera back in 2003 where Pacquiao had an 11th-round Technical Knock Out victory. The monicker "Pacman" started in the United States when Americans began calling him that way for easier recall.

Everybody knows what (or who) Pacman is. It is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. The player controls Pac-Man through a maze, eating pac-dots. When all dots are eaten, Pac-Man is taken to the next stage.


That is basically the main rationale of Manny Pacquiao being called the Pacman. He is eating the career of his opponents.

Amazingly Manny Pacquiao

There are a few amazing facts about Manny Pacquiao's name. Both the first name and last name sound like the following:

"Money" and "Pakyaw"

Of course, everyone knows what money is.

Money is anything that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts. The main uses of money are as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value. (Source: www.wikipedia.org)

Filipinos know what "pakyaw" is in our dialect. However, for the sake of other nationalities reading this post, let us translate.

“Pakyaw” is more aptly used where the job or work to be performed is in bulk or volume which is difficult to quantify. On the other hand, in case of task work, the emphasis is on the task itself, in the sense that payment is not reckoned in terms of numbers of units produced , but in terms of completion of the work. (Source: Philippine Court of Appeals)

Manny Pacquiao = Money Pakyaw

Sum it up:

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao is eating the career of his opponents and getting the money in bulk or volume which is difficult to quantify.

Do you agree?


In a related development, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared May 8, 2009 as "National Day of Celebration", which is a working holiday, in honor or Manny Pacquiao's win over Ricky Hatton on May 2.

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