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Philippines, 23 Nov 2024 |
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A day of a united Philippines behind one boxer, behind one color, behind one cause PhilBoxing.com Sat, 07 May 2011  I remember a professor of mine in Sociology back in my college days when he mentioned that the lives of Filipinos revolved around politics. We are involved in politics in all shape and form. Elections are a summer extravaganza of ours. Summers which are between the months of March till May are more festive when an election is being held. Be it the national, local, barangay (village or district) or even the Sanguniang Kabataan (Youth Council) elections. Money, food and all kinds of freebies abound in this merry month of May. Campaigns are hectic and expensive. Promotions and gimmickries flood the national media. And violence is at its highest during election year. Elections in our country is often marred by bloodshed and killings of opposing camps. It is almost always a sure thing that lives will lost during a campaign season. Every single Filipino supports a certain candidate on all levels of positions available. It is not unusual that differences in choices results in quarrels amongst friends and peers. It is not uncommon that one family may be divided because of one?s political preference. A husband may not talk to his wife for months because they differ in their support of a political candidate. A wife may not fulfill her marital obligations such as cooking or preparing dinner for her husband because of this reason. Politics cuts deep in the Filipino culture. It is a major cause of disharmony and disunity of our country. Politicians are a dime a dozen they say. They are respected and scorned at the same time. They are feared mainly because of their money, power and influence. And they are despised because of these same reasons. They are approachable during the campaign season but quickly becomes out of the public?s reach once they get elected. They disappear together with their platforms that are disguised as mere promises. They do come down from their mansions and return knocking in their constituents humble nipa huts once another round of campaign begins. Their term never ends. They just go from one position to another once their term limits expire. You see a current mayor running for congressman or vice versa. You also see them take a lower position from the on they have just to remain in power. A mayor in my hometown for three terms is now our vice mayor. And they let a member of the family take over the seat they once occupy. Hence you see an elected official?s wife, son, daughter or even his mistress run and vie for his old spot. Power is indeed intoxicating, and once experienced, it is hard to let go. This is why there was a big uproar and outburst and when Manny Pacquiao joined politics. Filipinos do not want their beloved hero be exposed to its dirty world. They do not want his iconic stature diminished by the greed, abuse and corruption that permeates the political landscape. The people of his home town in General Santos City voiced it out when he run for congress of their district. His province mates are not ready to gamble him to the dirty world of politics. If he wins, they will lose him as a sports and national hero. As a result, he lost overwhelmingly in his first try. He would not be denied last year when he ran for the same position this time in wife Jinkee?s hometown of Sarangani province. He entered this elections better prepared as his previous try. He won a landslide victory against a candidate who belongs to a clan that has run the province for decades. He is now their congressman, the honorable Emmanuel Pacquiao. He remains though as the country?s biggest sports hero. No an icon. He is the country?s biggest spectacle. This Saturday the country will be at a standstill again as he fights yet another match. Warring rebels and soldiers will have a day off, criminals will have a rest day. There will be no crime yet again on this day in the whole archipelago. His fight with Shane Mosley will be the only one that will be on every single television set in this archipelago of 7000 islands. They will watch him at home on a delayed telecast, they will watch him in movie theatres that offer the bought for a fee. Hotels, restaurants will have their own promotions such as buffets and limitless drinks of all kind to entice everybody to come in and enter their establishments to watch the fight. Mayors will put up giant screenings in their plazas or public squares It is an event, a very big event in this country of a hundred million. It is also a big event for the close to 11 million Filipinos that are all over the globe. Manny Pacquiao is their source of entertainment and pride at the same time. Manny Pacquiao the boxer knows that the whole nation will be watching him. He represents them to the whole world when he fights in that squared ring. He carries them in the form of the flag that he waves after every victory. Boxing is one of the world?s most popular sport. A big fight is anticipated and watched worldwide. Manny Pacquiao is no doubt the face of the sport. He follows the recognition that is bestowed to such names as Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. This Saturday Pacquiao will not be the only one in the center of it all. The Filipinos will be too, because the face of boxing is of the brown race of the orient, a Filipino. And in this big stage , he wants the full attention not just to himself but to the nation he represents. And with this opportunity came an idea from the man to show that the Philippines despite it being known as nation ripe with fragmentary issues and concerns can stand united for a cause. EDSA I and II is a proof of it. Before the people revolutions that are spreading across the Middle East nowadays, it was us Filipinos who laid down in front of incoming tanks. Before the radical demonstrations that brought the collapse of the Berlin wall it was us Filipinos who broke the walls of dictatorship first in 1986. This are just the two examples of how we can unite as a nation. We unite behind our heroes like Ninoy and Cory Aquino. Manny Pacquiao is no hero if you compare them to the Aquinos, but he is a hero none the less. And there is no doubt that we can unite behind him as a Filipino representing us in a field that he chose. Manny Pacquiao the politician knows this. In his last press conference before this fight, this is what he uttered. "All my life I have had to fight. At a time I had to fight just to eat, my background before when I was young. And now when I fight, Filipinos, they call me a hero. I believe this world needs more heroes. The biggest fight of my life is not boxing. The biggest fight of my life is how to end poverty in my country. That's my biggest fight in my life." And with the biggest fight of the year, Manny Pacquiao makes his political statement. This Saturday, the metamorphosis of Pacquiao the boxer to that of Pacquiao the social and political leader will manifests its form. He fights something with that someone he faces in the ring. That someone is Shane Mosley. That something being widespread poverty in this third world country of ours. Something that he thinks can be fought with unity. And with that came a plan, a symbol, a color. "So this Saturday I will wear yellow gloves as a symbol of unity." he remarked last Wednesday in front of the global media that is gathered before him. Yellow has been associated as a unifying symbol of color for the Philippines. Yellow was the color of both EDSA revolutions. It is the color associated with Ninoy and Cory. It is the color of unity, of new beginnings and of successful revolutions. He wants to start a revolution not politically but one that is social and humanitarian in nature. ?I would like to invite you all to wear yellow. We have to be united.? he added. This may sound like a sound byte from an aspiring politician which Pacquiao is. But it is not election time this month of May in the Philippines. And he did not address a crowd of potential voters in his hometown or country. He was addressing a conglomerate of boxing and sports media whom he hopes will start spreading his message. This speech came from a man who has experienced the consequences of being hungry, of being homeless, of being poor. He has helped in countless ways before mostly in terms of monetary , way before he was this big and famous. He knows now that he has a chance to make a bigger difference than he ever has owing to his popularity and stature in the biggest stage of his boxing career. ?It will make my heart happy to see yellow colors in the crowd,? ?It will be a beautiful and special thing for everyone to unite in this way, with boxing, and hope and charity. These are Manny Pacquiao?s words before an anticipated violence and brutality that is the sport of boxing. I know people will dismiss it and even make fun of him by stating it. For how can a mere boxer defeat the world?s biggest problem in his country. He cannot, not by himself, not by the members of his political team or affiliations. It will come from the very core of his fans. They are the farmers, the laborers, the pedicab, tricycle and jeepney drivers. They are the gasoline boys, the government employees, the minimum wage earners. They are the overseas workers, the nurses, the doctors. They not him nor his team will be the one who shall make a difference. He is just a mere messenger, a catalyst, a spokesman and yes a leader. A leader who happens to be a boxer who views this fight against poverty like he views his fights when he just started his storied career. A fight to survive the greater match that is life. Addendum: Please wear yellow on Saturday ,May 7, 2011 wherever you may be. Be it at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, in our plazas in the Philippines or in your homes watching the fight. This is our fight too as much as his. Erratum : I apologized for erroneously writing Marco Antonio (which is suppose to be Marcos Rene) as Maidana?s first name in my previous column. You can email Rich Mazon at rrmaze24@aol.com for questions or comments or follow him on Twitter @Freemazon910. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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