Mark this as a season of disgrace for the poor Filipino.
Nick Bruan, a lean, dusky, overworked daily wage-earner who had pinned his hopes on Manny Pacquiao, woke up feeling downcast yesterday.
The poor fellow felt terribly cheated.
Nick, who literally had to scratch the earth for a living, could not bear the news that Pacquiao had dumped Solar Sports as carrier of his fights in the Philippines.
OK, Nick was no great fan of Solar Sports, nor of ABS-CBN Broadcasting, which Pacquiao took in as new partner.
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But Nick said he nearly threw up upon realizing the dreadful impact of what Pacquiao had done.
?Nakakahiya? [It?s a shame],? groaned Nick, his sunburned brows knitted.
Well, Nick worshipped Pacquiao not only for his glorious exploits inside the boxing ring.
More than anything, Nick saw in Pacquiao a ray of hope in his wretched life.
OK, the signs were hardly distinguishable.
Nick, in fact, could not explain what that distant, intangible hope bears.
But for the countless suffering citizens who have nothing to cling to, there was always the promise of change behind Pacquiao?s big wins.
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Nick never failed to yell how proud he was to be a Filipino after each sensational Pacquiao victory.
Naturally, he also welcomed each Pacquiao victory as a season of grace.
Yesterday, Nick was swearing he could?ve readily shrugged it off had Pacquiao, say, lost to one of his top rivals.
After all, you can?t win them all, he reasoned.
Sorry about this, but Nick suddenly reconsidered his ideals about Pacquiao.
Reason: he felt jilted after discovering Pacquiao was not exactly noble.
His hero, after all, was not as good as advertised, cried the sunken worker.
Nick said he would now also renege on his vow as a Pacquiao devotee.
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So, how many Nick Bruans are out there in our filthy, lawless streets?
To check on who were willing to take the cudgels for Pacquiao, their idol, this reporter walked back to the wet market yesterday morning.
Sorry, but there was no one among the simple vendors willing to defend the Pacman.
Pacquiao was instead branded as a blasphemy, a national shame.
?Walang delicadeza, sira na basta kuwarta? [He has sense of propriety, he loses it when it comes to money], cried Boy T a dressed-chicken vendor.
?Sana matalo, para matauhan sila ng ABS-CBN? [I hope he loses, so he and ABS-CBN will come to their senses], said Ronnie N., a jeepney driver who plies the Vergara-Kalentong route.
Yes, everybody out there felt greatly cheated like the poor Nick Bruan.
?In the first place, he?s bigger than GMA Network and ABS-CBN combined,? noted lawyer Sam Estimo, who never tires of fighting for propriety in Philippine sports. ?This clearly showed he?s an opportunist, ?walang utang ng loob? [he has no sense of debt of gratitude.?
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Others say Pacquiao?s dreadful act is the height of infamy, more shameful than the Nicole recantation.
Of course, what did not escape fight critics is Pacquiao?s predictability and recklessness, which could resurface in his next ring assignment.
Suddenly recounted was his dirty turnaround in that gentleman?s dollar deal with Oscar De La Hoya.
They also remembered how Pacquiao gave the woman whose son he allegedly fathered a dirty run-around.
Nick Bruan felt very bad that Pacquiao has turned into one completely different from the powerful, principled warrior he had worshipped.
Of course, poor Nick also suspected that Pacquiao must?ve been irrevocably contaminated by that fat man, Pacman?s premier fan, whose patronage of St. Luke?s Medical Center with his wife has caused that respected medical institution to be called St. Loot?s.
