In his next fight, world champion Manny Pacquiao may very well be introduced by the ring announcer thus: ?The world?s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer, the only athlete to win world titles in four different weight divisions . . . Dr. Emmanuel Pacman Pacquiao!?
The title ?Congressman? (or Representative) may have eluded Pacquiao but he has added a more respectful caption to his name. With the world ?congressman? changed to the pointless ?solon? by most newspapers in their headlines, (an insult to the great Athenian lawmaker), Pacman must feel prouder of the new honorific. It?s a matter of degrees.
The Cebu-based Southwestern University conferred the honorary degree despite a few objections. The SWU decision cheapens the degree, according to a critic. Commission on Higher Education rules specify the seven fields where a university or college may grant an honorary degree, but ?Doctor of Human Kinetics? (the study of sports, fitness and health) is not one of them. SWU officials argued that Manny Pacquiao deserved the title for bringing honor to his country and serving as a model to the young. The school appealed to CHED, which relented, but on condition that Pacman receive not an honorary degree of Doctor of Human Kinetics but of Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa.
An honorary degree is the next best thing to a Ph.D or a Doctor of Medicine. It recognizes a body of work or the exemplary life of a dropout or a never-studied. But dubious conferments get a smirk and questionable recipients get little respect. Some grants are strange, such as the Perpetual Help College of Medicine in Bi?an, Laguna, which announced in 1997 that it was conferring two posthumous honorary degrees on Jose Rizal on the hero?s birthday.
You don?t need a doctorate when you are the wealthiest Filipino athlete or one of the most famous boxers in the world. But the title will help earn votes in General Santos City and give you a shot not at the House but at the Senate. And Ricky Hatton would think twice before hitting a man with a doctorate.
