Manny Pacquiao: You are still my idol!
Oscar de la Hoya: No, you are my idol!
This exchange between the winner and the loser speaks volumes of the character of the two gallant gladiators who regaled the world with their ?Dream Match? in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday (Sunday in the Philippines).
Manny, the Pride of the Philippines, was magnanimous in victory. De la Hoya was definitely no sour loser as he gave full credit to Manny, or ?PacMan,? for the victory. They remind me of the qualities Gen. Douglas MacArthur had wanted of his sons??humble and gentle in victory, proud and unbending in honest defeat.?
De la Hoya, or ?Golden Boy,? refused to remove the sheen off Manny?s victory and repeatedly called his conqueror ?a true champion.?
The qualities that these two have exhibited on the ring were sadly lacking in the political ring where virtually nobody admits defeat and every winner is dubbed a cheater. Of course, there were few exceptions.
In the 1984 Batasang Pambansa elections in what is now Para?aque City, Roilo Golez, the candidate of the Kilusan ng Bagong Lipunan (KBL), conceded defeat to Laban candidate Jaime Ferrer even before the canvassing was over. Golez, now on his fifth term as Para?aque representative, is a true sportsman, having been a boxing champion at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Another exception is former Rep. Frisco San Juan, a congressman representing Rizal in pre-martial law Congress. In 1984, he ran as one of two KBL candidates in Rizal against Emigdio Tanjuatco and Francisco Sumulong of Laban. Just like Golez, San Juan conceded defeat. There were reports then that the First Lady, Mrs. Imelda Marcos, had tried to dissuade him from conceding because everything was not yet lost. San Juan reportedly refused, saying he had no choice but to bow to the mandate of the people.
Decidedly, San Juan did not like to do to Tanjuatco and Sumulong what was done to Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya in the same elections. Padilla had already won in the canvassing but his candidate refused to concede. He slept with the knowledge that nothing could prevent his proclamation. The ballot boxes, however, were snatched on their way to the capitol. And then, miracle of miracles, the boxes reappeared several days later. And to the greater amazement of Padilla, the Commission on Elections proceeded to count the ballots and consequently proclaimed his opponent.
Of later vintage was the gallantry in political combat shown by Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. when he immediately yielded his post as Senate president when he realized he had lost the Senate majority. He even went down to the session hall to shake the hands of everybody there, including those who had turned against him.
Of course, Pacquiao had also shown the same gallantry in the political arena when he lost his bid to represent General Santos City against incumbent Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio. There were no recriminations, no gloating in the aftermath of the 2007 elections. They have maintained their respect for each other.
If only their example would become contagious!
