Goldenstate College, Inc.

Collecting souvenir items  has always been my interest even when I was a child. Anything that I can keep:  stones , piece of paper, leaf for example that can bring back fond memories of the places, persons and events , are so important to me. That is why when I go to museums and see old collections, I give high regard to persons who have painstakingly tried to keep and restore items that could have been misplaced, thrown away as trash,  or destroyed by time. I appreciate people who look forward of sharing artifacts to the next generations and at the same time looking backward by collecting old items; trying to correlate the present culture and practices. I guess this is one of the ways we can appreciate life.

This concept has been my guide to becoming very prudent with everything, trying to preserve and using them wisely thinking that everything can be appreciated by the generations to come.

With this characteristic, I got fond of collecting antiques. I started this hobby about ten years ago, with the help of my wife, and has collected glasswares, pots, religious figures, furnitures, automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, among others. One of my priceless collections are the Lambretta scooters which I was able to accumulate with my friend from San Pablo City in Laguna. These are Italian made units ranging from 1958 to 1968, Series I to III, respectively. These are hard to find collection items. The 1962  Series II Lambretta scooter was the last  unit that we were able to restore. We tried to think of something that would make the unit unique with the rest of the scooters with the same brand and category.

Being a resident of General Santos City, Southern Mindanao, and the hometown of the 8th Wonder of the World, Manny Pacquiao – the boxer, we thought of depicting his life and sports career by charcoal-sketching him, his boxing contenders and his friends using the body of the Lambretta scooter as the canvass. We commissioned an artist to do it for us which took almost one and a half year to complete since I had to make sure that the artwork would be appropriate. We thought of choosing Manny Pacquiao as the subject of the masterpiece considering the achievements, pride  and fame that he has brought to himself, to the community and the country. Just like the Lambretta scooter which is a classic and hard-to-find unit, Pacquiao is a very special person who has characteristics which is very unique from the rest of the world. As  a person, I find him to be very kind hearted (as a private person and as a Congressman) with a very strong will as a sportsman.

The title of this article – “The Pacman Lamb”, a combination of Pacquiao popularly called PACMAN, and the LAMB, which we fondly call the LAMBretta scooter, is a fitting phrase as this connotes the good-heartedness of Pacquiao as a LAMB, and his strong willingness which is the versatility and durability of a Lambretta scooter that withstood the wear and tear of time. I am very proud of this collection. I do not consider this LAMB as a mere collection but as an inspiration that anybody can be kind and be strong at the same time in his character.

“See something new with something old”