Is Pacman a hero of

the Philippines?
Reprinted from Newsvine (Sun May 3, 2009 9:12 AM HKT)

Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao, aka

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao. The
legendary Filipino boxing champion
currently rated as the No. 1 pound-for-
pound boxer in the whole world, so says
the Ring Magazine. Already an
undisputed world boxing great who
holds the record of being the first Asian
boxer to hold four world titles in four
different boxing weight divisions. He
may not be handsome, but he
ultimately demolished every Mexican
boxing superstar--the good-looking
Marco Antonio Barrera; Juan Manuel Marquez; Erik Morales; Oscar Larios;
Jorge Solis. Pacquiao even brought down the iconic and Olympic gold
medalist Mexican-American Oscar De La Hoya. Today, he goes up against
British Ricky Hatton, holder of the IBC and Ring Magazine Light Welterweight
titles.

Standing at 5 feet 6.5 inches, Pacquiao hails

from Bukidnon province in the southern
Philippine island of Mindanao. His boxing
exploits have made him not only popular
and rich, but also earned him a level of
admiration so great that some even of his
countrymen/countrywomen regard him as a modern-day Filipino hero. During
his preparation for the WBC lightweight title bout versus David Diaz,
AsianWeek, "The Voice of Asian America" publication, called him a
"Philippine hero [aiming] to become [the] first Asian to win titles in four
weight classes." Does Pacman deserve to be honored along with the rest of
the pantheon of heroes such as Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, Emilio Jacinto,
Apolinario Mabini, Antonio Luna and the likes? Is Pacquiao patriot material, or
just an iconic boxing figure with an eye on patronage politics?
Pacquiao's matches sure draw the arena and broadcast crowd as he also
rakes in millions of dollars in earnings, which grow with every bacon he
clinches. A regular group to his matches are no less than scores of Philippine
congressmen who fly en masse thousands of miles just to watch Pacman in
action live. With the multi-million US dollar earnings of the boxing legend, a
portion goes to the Filipino people. Good. Good? Nope, far from it, because
what the Filipino masses lose is far greater than Pacquiao's taxes that
supposedly go to government service for them.

With his every bout a junket of 20,

50 or so congressmen, along with
other favored officials of the Gloria
Arroyo government, cross the high
seas to watch Pacquiao fight in
person. The Filipino thereby loses
indirectly by way of absentee
legislations, and directly by the
millions of dollars they foot for the
junket. In practically every major
fight of Pacquiao under the Arroyo
administration, the First
Gentleman and/or scores of
congressmen travel first class, stay in the best hotel suites and show up to
cheer their idol and political friend Pacquiao. All at the government's
expense--despite claims to contrary. In June 2008, even while Typhoon
Fengshen was ravaging the southern portion of the Philippines, 59
congressmen hitched a junket during Arroyo's Obama stalking in the United
States, to watch Pacman in the works live. Something similar happens today
for the Pacquiao-Hatton fight.

But is it his fault that the corrupt

minions of the Arroyo administration
milk the Philippines dry till-the-next-
international-loan just to watch his
fights that have been a source of the
country's national pride? Of course not,
IF only Pacquiao has not been an ardent
supporter of whom The Windsor Star
described as "political dominatrix
Gloria Magapagal Arroyo, who seized power in a 2001 palace coup," and who
is regarded by majority of the Filipino as the "Most Corrupt President in
Philippine History."

But Pacquiao is Arroyo's avid supporter willing to let his popularity by used as
her desperate PR tool. The relationship between Pacquiao and the
notoriously corrupt administration of Arroyo is perhaps best seen in the
following editorial from The Daily Tribune:

Gloria Arroyo has been hanging onto the tails of Pacquiao's fame for all
its worth in her wishful thought that some of Pacquiao's star quality
that is coupled with a huge popularity among boxing fans in the
country--and they are legion--would rub on to her.

So popular was he and a hero in his hometown that Gloria, desperate

for her endorsed victory to prove that hers was not a kiss of death,
tapped Pacquiao, who was persuaded by her to run for Congress in the
2004 elections in his home province, South Cotabato, but was soundly
beaten by a tiny slip of a feisty girl, Darlene Antonino-Custodio (“Fight
of the Century.”)

Pacquiao must know about Arroyo's illegitimacy and corruption. Every soul in
the Philippine Islands does (although, of course, her supporters-cum-
beneficiaries of this government would not admit to it). Everyone knows
about the power grab from the sitting President Joseph Estrada back in 2001,
and the "Hello Garci" expose of the cheating during the 2004 presidential
elections. And who does not know about her never-ending litany of
corruption, the latest of which is the World Bank project rigging scandal that
involves her very own husband, "First Gentleman" Mike Arroyo? The boxing
great should particularly know Arroyo's brand of politics because he ran
under her party as a congressional bet.

Awareness of Arroyo's evil, however, does

not stop the 'modern hero' from helping in
the continuing megalomaniacal rape of the
Filipino people by a fake President eager and
adept at turning every Manny Pacquiao
victory into an opportunity to help
perpetuate herself in power. At the height of
the NBN ZTE broadband deal, following
Pacman's triumph against Marquez for the
World Boxing Council superfeatherweight
title, Arroyo promptly exploited the national
victory to placate the public outraged by the
sheer value of alleged kickbacks involved in
the anomalous deal. In a statement, Arroyo called Pacman "truly one of our
nation's heroes who can unite us even in times of divisiveness. An icon of the
masses, Manny Pacquiao mirrors the champ within every Filipino, here and
abroad."

A hero?
 A hero. The wicked, notorious Arroyo calls her ally
Pacquiao a 'hero.' But what is a hero? Merriam-
Webster's Dictionary gives two applicable definitions.
The first is "one that shows great courage;" and the
second is one "admired [based on one's]
achievements and noble qualities." Using the first
definition, Pacquiao can indeed be considered a
"hero," a boxing hero that is. There should be little
doubt that Pacquiao has exhibited great courage in
demolishing his recent boxing opponents who are all
legends in the boxing world.

Despite his stellar victories, however, such is not

enough to regard him a hero of the Filipino because
he lacks genuine patriotism. He sure has brought
unprecedented sporting pride to the country but that
still won't turn him into a hero. When the second
definition is applied, Pacman definitely won't qualify as a hero of the
Philippines. He might have gained the admiration of the Filipinos and other
races based on his boxing achievements; however, he fails when graded on
the aspect of "noble qualities." While it is true that the famed boxer
dedicates his every fight and victory to the Philippines, he remains blind to
the immoral governance of the "President" he chooses to support. Given his
extreme popularity and charisma, the least Pacquiao could have done was to
remain politically neutral and thus, refuse to be a political pawn of a leader
consistently shown by surveys here and surveys there to be repudiated and
distrusted by the people.

In today's boxing match, this column predicts that the "People's Champ "will
triumph against Englishman Hatton--albeit only via technical given the
impressive records of the two. Half the bettors will cheer, the Philippines will
(mostly) celebrate, and the wicked Arroyo administration will once again ride
high on Pacman's popularity. Now, is Pacquiao a hero of the nation? Let
history be the best judge.

___________

References:

Arroyo 'junket': Like fiddling as Rome burns. Inquirer. 25 June 2008.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080625-
144625/Arroyo_%91junket%92%3A_Like_fiddling_as_Rome_burns
Boxer Pacquiao. Fights for History: Philippine hero aims to become first Asian
to win titles in four weight classes. AsianWeek. 27 June 2008.
http://www.asianweek.com/2008/06/27/boxer-pacquiao-fights-for-history-
philippine-hero-aims-to-become-first-asian-to-win-titles-in-four-weight-
classes/

Fight of the Century. 16 March 2008. The Daily Tribune.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/20080316/commentary/20080316com1.html

Guinto, Joel. Arroyo: Pacquiao 'hero,' 'icon of masses.' Inquirer. 16 March

2008. Arroyo: Pacquiao 'hero,' 'icon of masses. '
http://sports.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20080316-
125058/Arroyo-Pacquiao-hero-icon-of-masses.

Manthorpe, Jonathan. Indonesia's time to shine. The Windsor Star. 3 April

2009.
http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Indonesia+time+shine/1458816/story.html

"Manny Pacquiao." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2 May 2009, 18:01

UTC. 3 May 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Pacquiao

Table 2: Most Corrupt President in Philippine History. Pulse Asia Site. 21-21,
2007. http://pulseasia.com.ph/resources/photos/table2_corruption_0710.gif

Photo Credits:

The Daily Tribune

TeamPilipinas.info
Newsday.com