Manny, Pacman, Pacquiao

By: Hidelito Pascual October 12,2016 - 10:24 PM

I read somewhere a week or so ago about somebody who is no longer watching the Pacquiao vs. Vargas fight next month, because of his disappointment over the Pambansang Kamao’s performance as a member of the Senate.

I do not exactly agree with the stance put up by that person.

I will still watch the Pacquiao vs. Vargas fight, bite my fingers if the Pacman is hit by the younger Vargas, jump on my feet if he delivers a haymaker and wait with bated breath the announcement of the judges’ scorecard, if the fight turns out to be a close one.

This is because when you talk or write about Manny “The Pacman” Pacquiao, you probably have to deal separately with the person, the sportsman and the politician. And since it is not the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we have to consider each aspect of the person from each other.

Manny the person.

I was also greatly tempted to swear down the Pacman, for various reasons.

First, when he announced that he would be the playing coach of the Mahindra(Kia at the time) when it joined the PBA. Manny is not competent nor qualified on both counts.

Those of us who had tried coaching know what it takes to be in that bench and orchestrate the moves, the minds and the skills of the 12 players of your team.

Manny did not even sit as coach of his Gensan Team in the Liga Pilipinas, and I even doubt if he has coached a team in a barangay league in South Cotabato or Sarangani.

As a player, unless he had to have the moves of a Mugsy Bogues or a Calvin Murphy, Manny was just depriving one player of a slot in the team roster. That is probably the reason that when he made his first field goal in the PBA, the team celebrated as if they had won a conference championship.

I saw it then and now as an ego trip, and a chance to do something that happens only in his sleep.

This suspicion was validated a few months ago when we were in GenSan to attend a Conference of the IBP House of Delegates. Manny was supposed to deliver the keynote address and almost everyone in attendance was insanely anticipating to see the Niño Bonito of Southern Cotabato.

We even had to postpone our lunch for 30 minutes, because we had to wait for Manny’s appearance. He did not come during lunch and the organizers told the assembly that Manny would come anytime during the afternoon session.

He never did.

The information was not reliable, but it was rumoured—coming from his advance party—that Manny decided not to attend because the audience was not big enough.

I did not make any decision not to vote for him as a senatorial candidate, because I would not have voted for him anyway in any election.

What I was thinking then was also to erase from my must do list watching the Pacman’s world class fights.

I did not make that decision when I learned that my lawyer friends from Tagbilaran chartered a tricycle, went to Manny’s mansion, and had their picture taken outside the gate.

I realized then that it was really possible to separate the man from who he is and when he wears his boxing gloves.

The score card is even. Manny the man, and Pacman the sportsman.

What about Pacquiao the Senator?

You could already discern from what I have stated earlier, that I would not vote for Pacquiao, if he ran as head of the barangay tanods.

My thinking is that Pacquiao would just be an addition to the Nancy Binays, the Lito Lapids, etc. whose election to the position of Senator of the Republic of the Philippines has so denigrated the prestige of the hallowed institution.

I am not only sure that he does not have what it takes to tackle the job, Pacquiao has also turned out to be one of the wettest of trapos in Congress.

Talking about the advertisement put out by the Senate for its 100th year, I wish that they did not parade anymore the images of the great persons who became Senators.

Recto, Salonga, Tolentino, Diokno, Laurel, Pelaez, Manglapus, Aquino, Pimentel, Tañada, Osmeña,and so many other names that escape the memory at the moment.

Who among the present senators could stand head-to-head with any one of these politicians, but continued to be statesmen, putting country first, over anything else?

Thinking about it, I think the Senate deserves Pacquiao.

What further damage would his membership bring, to an institution whose reputation has already gone to the dogs? Is this how the Roman senate of Mark Anthony and Brutus came eventually to an end?

What I have decided is to watch the Pacman fight on November 7, and l promise to lustily cheer for him, as Darlene Antonino did for her political rival, because truly, I am still his ardent fan.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

Read Next

Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.

TAGS: boxer, boxing, Cotabato, Kia, Mahindra, manny, Pacman, Pacquiao, PBA, politician, Sarangani, senate, vargas

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more, please click this link.