AMID all the hoopla attending Manny Pacquiao’s victory in Los Angeles last Sunday–not to mention the similarly sensational knockout wins of Filipinos Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria–I suddenly remembered the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Ali lighting the Olympic Flame.
Coke as the Olympiad’s chief backer.
A bomb going off not far from the Press Center.
And, most of all, I remember Mansueto Velasco winning a boxing silver.
Velasco’s silver was the country’s first since Anthony Villanueva also won a boxing silver in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Like Velasco, Villanueva’s silver likewise appeared golden since Villanueva had been deemed robbed of victory in his championship fight against a Russian named Stanislav Stepashkin.
Onyok Velasco missed the country’s first Olympic gold in 1996 after a close fight against a Bulgarian named Daniel Bojilov.
Still, as in Villanueva’s case, Velasco’s defeat also became inconsequential. To the Filipino nation, what was consequential was that Onyok missing the gold by a whisker still made the silver glisten like gold.
That’s how desperate we’ve been all these years. An Olympic silver will instantly transform sadness into a golden, joyous moment. We yearn for sporting glory, never mind if it’s half-baked or more than the next meal on the table.
I don’t know if we have only ourselves to blame for this weird attitude that’s been with us for so long now. But what I do know is we have the penchant to gloat even over pseudo sporting victories overseas, as though they suddenly take the form of cure-all both to a society besieged by political bickering and a citizenry reeling from economic uncertainties.
Most times, the politicians are to blame. Always, they are the first to whip up a storm of celebration, abetting it by saying this and that, leading to promises that, in the end, become unfulfilled.
Did Onyok receive the money promised him by Congress, nearly 10 years after his silver finish in 1996 in Atlanta?
Last time I asked–and that wasn’t long ago–he hasn’t received a single penny.
Oh, well, if it’s any consolation, Onyok still has that Congress resolution extolling his golden performance for a silver finish.
And oh, if he could only eat that, he’d be as happy as Mang Pandoy.
But get this: Two-time world champion Luisito Espinosa also has yet to receive his purse of $150,000 for successfully defending his crown against Carlos Rios of Argentina in 1998 in Marbel, South Cotabato. A case to recover the money that rightfully belongs to him has been rotting for years in the sala of a Manila judge.
Please light a candle for the death of the justice system in this country.
And where’s Luisito Espinosa now, the toast of Philippine professional boxing from the ’80s to the ’90s?
He’s toiling in America, poor as a rat, subsisting on menial jobs to buy the next meal for his children and a wife who has declared a long time ago her utter hopelessness in recovering what is due her hubby.
To augment his income, Espinosa hasn’t hung up his gloves. And, even if he is already pushing 40, the so-called “last fight” will never come to this boxer for as long as there are takers out there. Aren’t young boxers being primed up for the big fights get pitted against over-the-hill boxers to beautify their win-loss records?
Please light a candle for the safety of Luisito Espinosa.
Now tell me, is our government really that serious in ensuring a bright future for our athletes who had brought honor to the name Filipino?
Tell me too, fellas, are our politicians any better in protecting the welfare of our athletes like Espinosa?
Save for the rainy day, Manny Pacquiao. Today, you have millions but you’ll never know what tomorrow will bring you.
Save for the rainy day, Manny Pacquiao. Today, you have Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and many more big-time politicians but you pretty well know what’d be on their minds when you hit the dumps tomorrow.
In the end, losers, if not retirees, have only their relatives to run to.
