Pacquiao finishes high school

Manny Pacquiao just got two more titles that he probably treasures only next to, if not equal to, his WBO Super Featherweight title — high school graduate and Ambassador for the Alternative Learning System and People's Champ for Education. The Pacman, as his fans worldwide call him, got his diploma on Thursday from Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus, right at the central office of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Pasig City. "He serves as an inspiration to the youth, especially those who were unable to push through with their studies due to difficult and unfortunate situations," Lapus said in a press statement distributed during the press conference. Pacquiao took the Accreditation and Equivalency Test for high school last February 4 with his brother Bobby, also a boxer, at the Ireneo Santiago High School in General Santos City. The brothers had dropped out of school due to extreme poverty. Bobby, however, failed the test. The Accreditation and Equivalency Test is regularly conducted by the DepEd's Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) for dropouts who want to complete their grade school or high school education. The test results are processed and analyzed by the Center for Educational Measurement, a professional organization specializing in testing and evaluation. More than 50,000 out-of-school youths took the test this year. - GMANews.TV