MANNY Pacquiao has been portrayed in different ways for his different roles, using different mediums.
Jun Aquino presents the Pacman in paintings.
It all started in the 1990s when Pacquiao first became a boxing superstar when he defeated Mexico’s Antonio Barrera. Jun was commissioned by a large format printing company to make a giant billboard printed in tarpaulin for the campaign WOW Philippines. His expertise was needed to create a 120-feet display of the People’s Champ that will be put up along EDSA and near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. All Jun had was a low quality picture of Pacquiao, a newsprint picture that was so pixelated and not clear. So he started tracing it and putting colors using Photoshop. Overnight, he finished it and the agency was very happy that they gave him a bonus.
From then on, Jun has followed Manny’s career, drawing and painting him, knowing that one day, they will meet.
That day came in 2011 when he met him at Pan Pacific Hotel where Pacquiao was staying with wife Jinkee. Pacquiao’s adviser, Wackee Salud, introduced the two.
“I personally delivered to his hotel room my gift to him – a 4×4 feet oil painting of him running with his dog Pacman, and one 4×4 feet I have requested Manny to sign so I can give it to my son Kyle,” Jun recalled.
Pacquiao asked Jun if he was selling his paintings.
He answered: “No, that is for you, I’ve wanted to give you this a long time ago.”
“How much is this kind of painting if someone wants to buy?” Pacquiao asked. Jun told him that he will be very happy if someone offers $1,000 dollars or P50,000 for that particular work.
But because Manny has signed it, it has become priceless and so Jun said he will keep it as a treasure. And Pacquiao smiled at him.
Jun’s paintings portray Pacquiao as a good warrior, a sports icon.
“Sometimes, I experiment with colors and styles to tell the audience that Pacquiao’s life is so colorful, there is no dull moment, it is full of electrifying power. Manny’s life is an art and a perfect example of his quote, ‘The Lord raised me from nothing into something for a purpose and that purpose is to bring glory to His name’,” said Jun.
Jun does not sell Manny Pacquiao paintings especially if it is signed. He has donated all his paintings to Pacquiao, who displayed them in his Las Vegas and Los Angeles homes.
“We have an agreement that we will sell that only if we have an auction for charity events or fund raising. The price range for a small painting in a 2014 charity event in Beverly Hills was $5,000 to $10,000; the big ones from $20,000 to $50,000,” said Jun.
One of Jun’s wildest dreams was to have his art inside the Oval Office of President Obama. Thank God, and Manny Pacquiao, that dream came true. He painted Pacquiao with the US President and Manny gave this to Obama as a present when he was invited at the National Prayer Breakfast, a yearly affair in the United States capital.
Jun is busy now finishing a 3×4 painting of Manny vs Bradley 3, named “Pacific Storm vs the Dessert Storm.”