MUHAMMAD ALI was aptly called a one-man festival during his prime. Ali, the greatest, was not exaggerating when he said he could stop the world whenever he fought.
So, where does this put Manny Pacquiao, hands-down the best pound-for-pound fighter today and, just like Ali, the hottest prize-fight property in the world?
Before we again get buried in the Pacquiao popularity and hysteria, isn?t it about time we asked how the Pacman could?ve skirted the waiting mess he suffered last week when he exposed an old weakness and fell victim to shoddy money negotiations?
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Manny, himself a one-man circus, was obviously ill-advised.
Look, if he had instead asked around and, for example, approached North Cotabato Vice Gov. Manny Pi?ol, an old reliable supporter, Pacquiao could?ve emerged from his misdeal with ABS-CBN, unscathed.
In fact, Pi?ol was forced to fire off a few solid pointers to the government over the Arroyo administration?s bid to have former British Prime Minister Tony Blair meddle in the peace process in Mindanao.
Said Pi?ol: ?We should be thankful to Mr. Blair and the government of the United Kingdom for helping us during all these years of conflict.?
However, in all the years that Pi?ol, as a local leader, worked to come up with innovations in governance, he said he had never thought of employing somebody ?charismatic and charming? to end the trouble in the South.
That said, Pi?ol offered these following pointers to Mr. Blair, in case he ends up doing his thing in the Southern Philippines:
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1. He must work on the deep-seated biases and prejudices between the Christians and the Muslims in the South. We?ve tried this by offering scholarships to our Muslim, Christian and tribal children knowing that education is the key to understanding. We also started a program called ?Children of Peace? which hopes to develop bright Muslim, Christian and tribal children of today to be tolerant leaders of the province in the future.
2. He must make sure that the political apparatus established during the MNLF-GRP Peace Agreement of 1996 works and serves the people of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to be able to support the idea that the Muslims of the South, given their own breathing space, will be able to provide their people a better life.
3. He must be able to stop corruption in the ARMM, where billions of pesos in special assistance funds and the local government?s share from the Internal Revenue Allocation end up either in the pockets of some officials or in the vaults of the casinos in the nearby cities.
4. He must be able to provide justice to the victims of the conflict, both Muslims and Christians so these people will put their trust and confidence back in government and the justice system.
Perhaps, he should look at the case of four Muslim farmers murdered by the former mayor of Banisilan, who now roams free as a bird after the Secretary of Justice ruled that the killings were done in self-defense.
5. He should be able to bring Umbra Kato and his ilk to justice, including those who have killed hundreds in the many bombing incidents perpetrated by the rebels in civilian populated areas.
6. Most of all, Mr. Blair must understand that the piece of paper that our government and the MILF would like to sign, called the peace agreement, would be worthless if poverty, deprivation, the lack of opportunities and hopelessness envelope our people in the Southern Philippines.
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That?s it. Should Mr. Blair be able to do this (added to his charisma and charm), Pi?ol said, ?we will have true and lasting peace in the South.?
The Arroyo government must put an end to this circus, Pi?ol concluded.
