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COMMENTARY: PACQUIAO IN PHILIPPINE MEDIA, POLITICS - PART 1 By Patricio P. Diaz PhilBoxing.com Wed, 24 Jun 2009  I. Pacquiao Mania GENERAL SANTOS CITY ? Isang tanong: Ano ang kay Manny Pacquiao na kung pakinggan kahawig ng kanyang unang pangalan? (One question: What has Manny Pacquiao which is homonymous with his first name?) Since days before he flattened Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas, Nevada last May 2 (May3 in Manila) until now, Manny Pacquiao has hogged the headlines. When that will end is not in sight. Besides lionizing him as a great world boxing champion, media are playing up his political ambition as well as his many talents.. Hindi lang boxing titles ang napakyaw ni Manny kungdi pati and media. (Manny won not only all the boxing titles he wanted but also the Philippine media.) That?s a fact. And this fact mirrors Philippine politics and reflects our media?s weakness. Overdone Manny Pacquiao?s greatness as a boxer is beyond question. In all weight divisions, he has reigned, he is the greatest ? pound for pound, punch for punch. He has proven this beyond any ounce of doubt. For this, he rightly deserves the adulations accorded him by the Filipinos and the headlines of the leading Philippine and world media. This time the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), the CNN (Cable News Network of America), and the Singapore-based CNA (Channel News Asia) ? leading television networks that ignored his previous triumphs -- featured his stunning knockout of Ricky Hatton. They, too, must have been stunned and could no longer ignore him. In the Philippines, however, accented by the Pacquiao mania, the Philippine media have overdone their publicity of Manny Pacquiao. The media appetite is insatiable. Whatever Manny does, says and thinks outside the ring is news. But that should not be taken against Pacquiao. The fact is: The Philippine media are sustaining and using the Pacquiao mania for their own benefit. That is a distinctive weakness of Philippine media ? the propensity for and excessive use of personalities and sensational as well as sensationalized events to sell. I was in Portland, Oregon during the 2006 midterm U.S. elections. In U.S. newspapers and televisions, election stories dominated the front page for two days following the election day eclipsing almost all other events. After that, election-related matters were treated as their usual fare. The Oregonian, Portland?s 150-year-old newspaper comparable to the New York Times or The Washington Post, featured proudly Oregon?s champion teams and outstanding athletes but not in the way the Philippine media do. That is true in the United States, the land of many world champions. Pacquaio Mania Only fools can ignore the Pacquaio mania gripping the country today. It?s among the masa (masses), the blue and while collars, the Congress and Malaca?ang dwellers ? the President being Manny?s foremost idolater, putting him up as a model of Filipino youth and praising him ad lib in her 2006 State of the Nation Address. They and the media are fanning it. Pacquiao was World Boxing Council world flyweight champion in 1998. In 2001, he was International Boxing Federation world super bantamweight champion. However, until he fought to a draw WBA and IBF world champion Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas in May 2004 -- despite knocking him down twice in the first round ? he had been virtually unknown. By that fight, he impressed the dollar-hungry American promoters; he electrified his own country to idolize him. Yet until his second round knockout of Hatton, the U.S. and world media had ignored his fights. While still in Portland, I had to surf Inquirer.net to know the outcome of his July 2, 2006 fight vs. Oscar Larios of Mexico. Now like fire, the Pacquiao mania is inextinguishable; like thirst, it is unquenchable. Attributes Several attributes are associated with the Pacquiao mania and, perhaps, have inflated Manny?s ego. Some of these are unquestionable; others are debatable. He is a ?legend?. In the boxing world, he rightfully has carved that distinction. He is in league with other boxing legends. The nation is proud of him. He is ?national hero?. There was a proposal floated in the media to have his life-size bronze statue erected in front of the city hall of General Santos City. Is he? This is debatable. I hope the debating teams of the Ateneo de Manila University and La Salle University resolve this in a nationally televised debate. He is ?unifier of the nation?. During his fights, there is zero crime; there are no hostilities in rebel fronts. All Filipinos, media reports claim, are united before the television sets. This may be true. But is this the unity our country sorely needs? Unless Pacquiao could fight every day! He is ?peace maker?. A senator -- or was it a congressman? ? suggested to appoint Pacquiao as adviser in the GRP-MILF peace negotiation. ?He can bring peace to Mindanao,? he said. Should UN former secretary-general Kofi Annan and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair accept the invitation of Malaca?ang as peace talk advisers Manny will join them side by side with some presidential assistants. He is ?God-sent? This Fr. Jayson Laguerta implied in his homily when Pacquiao had a thanksgiving Mass at the Quiapo Church last May 7 (Inquirer.net, May 8): ?Every time Manny Pacquiao wins, it is not only the Philippines who wins but God as well because Manny symbolizes faith in God. That is why even those who do not believe, still recognizes Him because of Manny.? (Emphasis supplied.) In no way could Father Laguerta be misunderstood: God sent Manny to symbolize faith in Him. How many Father Laguertas are there among Manny?s hero worshippers? Could this have gotten into Manny?s head? When his promoter Bob Arum praised him for knocking out Hatton, he shot back, ?But don?t forget God.? Meaning: God chose him to win -- just like Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo saying God has chosen her to be president. Manny wears the Rosary and prays before every fight. But his Mexican foes who are devout Catholics like him also do. Hatton may not be a Catholic. However, his God is the same God* of the Catholics. In his fight against Pacquiao, he must have also prayed before the fight. God must have answered both: ?The better fighter wins.? *[Footnote: The Christian God, the Muslim God, the Buddhist God, the Hindu God, the Pagan God, etc. are the same God of different names. They all commonly believe that God is creator of the universe. And, there is only one universe. If each had a different God, there should have been many different universes. Our only one universe was created by One God.] In Truth That Manny Pacquiao has achieved legendary feat in the boxing world is to his honor and to the nation?s pride. That the Filipinos, from the masses to Malaca?ang, idolize him as their hero reveals a Filipino character. That the media have not only been caught in the Pacquiao mania but in fact are fanning it for their own interests reflects a media weakness. For his legendary feat, Pacquiao should be emulated. The Filipino character and the media weakness his legendary feat has exposed call for reflection. * * * Go to Part 2 of this article. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Patricio P. Diaz.  |
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