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Philippines, 01 Jul 2025 |
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PACQUIAO WATCH: Bordering on idolatry By Edwin G. Espejo PhilBoxing.com Tue, 23 Jun 2009  With his ring success nearing the apex like that of every great pugilist that ever donned the mitts, praises heaped on Manny Pacquiao have ranged from the mundane and innately passionate to bigotry and outright idolatry. To most rabid fanatics, Manny has become invincible, even infallible, since he avenged his loss to Erik Morales four years ago. Along the way, many skeptics have turned avid Manny minions. Even the Arroyo administration has succumbed to Manny?s immense drawing power to the extent that it appointed him into many honorary and meaningless positions and conferred him titles with humungous, if not humorous ramifications. Now, one self-styled Manny sycophant wants the Filipino boxing idol to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Boxing columnist Michael Marley, who once was described by Pacquiao lawyer Jeng Gacal the ?White Gorilla? for calling him Jackal, said Manny could run for Congress, win it and then gun for the presidency and ?knockout the endless war (in Mindanao)? and ?stop people form hurling grenades.? Then he surely would be worth mentioning as candidate for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, he posited. Marley, while one of the better boxing analysts and sportswriters, has a warped sense of history if not totally ignorant of Philippine politics. How dare he mention Manny in the same breadth with Nelson Mandela (1993) and Martin Luther King Jr. (1964)? Mandela led his country in a war of national liberation and struggle against apartheid for several decades. King aroused and transformed American consciousness with his libertarian ideals. Did it not occur to Marley that all previous winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, both individuals and organizations, won because of a body of work or treatises that they made towards achieving world peace and understanding? Did it not cross his mind that the War in Mindanao was a product of centuries, nay millenniums of conflict and conquest by forces who tried to subjugate the Moro people? Granting Manny becomes president, and he might one day, did Marley believe Manny has the heart and mind to fully comprehend the internecine war in Mindanao and the other war that is raging across the island ? the communist rebellion? Will his ward Manny be able to rein on the military and big landlords whose contempt for the Moro people have held hostage all presidents of this country since Martial Law was declared in 1972? What made Marley think that Manny will be any different from them? That is not even considering if Manny will win the congressional election next year in his chosen place of abode, in Sarangani. This early, Manny is showing sign he is willing to make a pact with the devil in order to win next year?s election. Now that is certainly not one good criterion for the Nobel Peace Prize. If only Marley sticks to boxing and help convince Manny that his place in history is in the sports that made the Filipino what he is today, then he is doing the Filipino people a great service. If only Marley realizes that the company Manny is keeping around him is what will unmake him one day, then he will realize that politics is no home for the greatest Filipino boxing champ ever. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Edwin G. Espejo.  |
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