THE banner inside the Thomas and Mack Arena that swayed and danced minutes after Manny?s victory said it all: ?PACQUIAO FOR PRESIDENT.?
Is there any Filipino more popular today than Manny? Was there anyone, in our history, more celebrated and watched and cheered on?
Here?s a thought: If Joseph Estrada got elected to the land?s highest position and FPJ, years later, almost snatched it; if Noli de Castro won the nation?s No. 2 spot, then why, in the name of our elections called Mr. Popularity, can?t Pacman be president?
This early on, I can picture the campaign slogans: ?Pacman, ?D Man!?? ?Pangulo? Siyempre? Pacman!? ? ?Money? Manny has plenty!? Okay, okay. I?m speaking too soon: GMA won?t relinquish that throne. And by then, the year 2009, Pacquiao might no longer be the world champ?
But next year, yes, lest we forget, next year, it?s the ?Double ?07? Election Year. Twelve slots in the senate are vacant. So here?s another scenario: If Manny runs for senator, will he win?
Crazy, crazy question! It?s like asking, ?If Pacquiao fights Erik Morales a fourth time, will he win?? It?s a no-brainer. Of course, we know who?ll top the elections?
SENATOR MANNY PACQUIAO! Can you imagine that? It?s possible. Don?t laugh.
But let?s get serious now. And be more realistic. How about as Vice-Mayor of Manila?
Is it true that Pacquiao visited the Comelec and changed his residency from General Santos City to Manila? I heard it?s true. Is it true that incumbent Manila Mayor Lito Atienza is fielding his son Ali as successor? I heard it?s true. Is it true that Mayor Atienza has courted Manny, named him ?Adopted Son,? propped him atop the back of a truck, paraded the streets of Binondo, and asked him to wave at his fans? That?s true. Now. Will an Atienza-Pacquaio combination beat Ping Lacson, Fred Lim and, ahem, Rosebud Ong? If you take a look at this campaign slogan, you?ll know the answer: ALI and PACQUIAO in MANILA!!!
How, I ask, in the name of boxing and politics, can the combination of ?ALI? and ?PACQUIAO? lose? And the winner is? VICE MAYOR MANNY PACQUIAO! Will he or won?t not?
But the real question persists: Is politics in Manny Pacquiao?s blood? From what we?ve seen, this we know about Manny?s blood: he has machine gun-like jabs, that killer left-hand hook, he struts off his feet, unleashes bang-bang-bang combinations, and owns the heart of a Rocky Balboa. Politics? In Manny?s blood? This ?Double ?07?? Please. No!
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TRAFFIC. If you owned a Porsche 911 and longed to find the time when you can zoom from 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds on an empty road, last Sunday late morning was best. From my Talamban home to the Cebu Country Club at 9:35 in the morning, it took me five minutes. Five minutes? Yes. What happened? Had the Asean started? Were the roads blocked to allow the Japanese Prime Minister to pass? No, no.
It was the Manny Pacquiao Day. It was a day more than a holiday. It was the day when time and work and lunch stopped. The world froze. Jeepney drivers stayed home. So did the hundreds of Richielda Taxi drivers. Everybody planted their buttocks to chairs, zoomed their eyes to the TV screen, clapped, yelled, raised their hands, and thought, ?Isn?t it a proud day to be called Filipino??
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Manny, a Nike endorser? I thought he was paid millions to don Nike and would soon appear alongside Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova in a Nike ad. All we saw was ?No Fear.? The white headband that wrapped around his head wrote ?No Fear.? His pants were the same white-and-red with the torching fire. It said ?No Fear.? I didn?t see Nike. His shoes? Maybe. But who?d notice a tiny swoosh?
Plus: Want to know the real truth behind Manny?s victory? Look behind him. Literally. At his behind. Wasn?t he powered by Motolite?
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Didn?t you believe the 2:1odds in favor of Manny was too much, that he might be overrated? Didn?t you get scared reading reports of Manny?s gambling woes, of him losing P5 million in one night?
Didn?t you lose your voice? Didn?t you stand up and point your two arms to the sky? Didn?t your heart beat like you ran a 200-meter dash? Didn?t you imagine this would be over in the 9th round and when Morales wobbled and fell twice and shook his head in the 3rd round, didn?t you think, wow, this is it? Manny?s the champ?
Didn?t we all think this wasn?t possible: Ronnie Alcano, world billiards champion last week, and now, Pacquaio, boxing world champ? Well, we should. We?re Filipinos.
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Brian Viloria? Nah. Lousy. Doctors Ronnie Medalle and Ron Eullaran, my seatmates, were unimpressed. Viloria wasn?t a fighter. He was a spectator.
You want to know the difference between a champion and a loser? Look at Pacquiao and Viloria. Listen to that muscle pumping inside the chest. Pacquiao has it, Viloria doesn?t. With Manny, you see it. You see that he wants it. And when somebody wants something bad, he goes for it.
Viloria? Nah. Lousy. He doesn?t have one-twelfth the heart of Pacquiao. Sure, he knocked his opponent off his feet twice. But Viloria, especially in the later rounds, just stood in the middle. He no longer fought. He just stood there. Like a person waiting to pass time. Maybe he was tired, maybe he thought he led in points and played it safe. But real champions don?t play it safe. Why, is boxing safe? In the 12th round, had he shown enough heart and won that round, he?d have won. But no, Brian is no Manny.
You see, in this world, boxers are many. But only one Manny.
