Statement of Sen. Cynthia Villar on Sen. Manny Pacquiao's win over Jesse Vargas

Joining Filipinos all over the world, I congratulate Sen. Manny Pacquiao for his dominant win over Mexican boxer Jessie Vargas.

As a colleague in the Senate, I witness his work ethic and passion as a new senator. Truly, he manifests the values that make a successful man. These are the same values that secured him a place in history as the only sitting senator to win a boxing title.

Manny's win came at the heels of a string of victories for Filipinos in the international front. Earlier, Kylie Verzosa won the Miss International title; Paolo Ballesteros won the Best Actor award at the Tokyo International Film Festival; and the Philippines' hosting of the 2017 Miss Universe pageant has just been confirmed. In addition, Addison Russell, the baseball player that won Chicago Cubs its first World Series championship in over 100 years, is half-Filipino.

These victories are just a glimpse of the many reasons that make the Filipino a proud race. Indeed, these victories inspire us to dream big despite overwhelming odds.