GRAHAM Lim, found to be a fake Filipino “after a thorough and lengthy investigation,” has all the right to use a borrowed nationality.
However, Lim had to be put in his proper place after he was found to have stolen his identity.
Lim, who uses a Filipino passport, was found to be a Chinese through and through.
Nothing wrong with that; the Chinese, after all, are among the world’s more adorable people.
In fact, Lim, as he had promptly threatened, has the right to appeal.
He will most likely turn to his trusted benefactor, the unsinkable Go Teng Kok, who could use his strong connections in the Philippine Olympic Committee, whose head could then turn to Malaca?ang.
The Lim case looms as another test case for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
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This late, Malaca?ang must start strictly evaluating the Lim case.
For example, authorities should study the cases of oppression filed by many Filipino basketball referees whom Lim had deprived of their means of livelihood.
Authorities should also determine how many times Lim had used fake papers in order to travel abroad as a Filipino.
But what should figure prominently in the evaluation is the manner Lim has been flaunting his power as secretary-general of the Basketball Association of the Philippines.
One unforgivable sin was his having fielded a scrub school team to represent the Philippines in a man-size Fide-sanctioned international tournament in Taipei, where the RP flag predictably got kicked around like trash.
There are many other Lim infractions that should be brought out.
But if he, say, gets the passing grade from Malaca?ang after the True Graham Lim has been presented, the ruling should also confirm what kind of fickle hands rule our life as a nation.
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This other case has nothing to do with questionable citizenship, but with something deeper.
For one, our former boss in the old dzHP, Ronnie Nathanielsz, had been lent Filipino citizenship by his idol, Ferdinand Marcos.
Nathanielsz is always there to swear to high heavens he’s ready to die for the Philippines.
That’s easy to believe.
We’ve worked with Nathanielsz, a former Sri Lankan, and we can attest how much deeper he has learned to love his borrowed nation.
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This other case has something to do with sincerity.
Why? Because recent happenings after Manny Pacquiao’s failed bid at immortality in his fight against the great Erik Morales have made us wonder about Nathanieslz’s assumed patriotism.
Nathanielsz, for the record, has been doggedly defending his dear friend Murad Muhammad against allegations that the talkative American promoter has stolen Pacquiao’s rightful share in the pay-per-view proceeds of the Morales fight last month.
Nathanielsz has brilliantly presented the Murad case and his detailed defense could qualify him to take a lawyers’ board exam in the United States.
But, hey, Nathanielsz could also turn hysterical and lose focus once put on the defensive.
He could insensitively be too smart.
For example, in insisting that it was Morales who had lured practically the entire pay-per-view horde in the fight against Pacquiao, Nathanielsz evidently lost hold of the handle.
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To defend Murad’s right to take away what Pacquiao has earned with blood and sweat from the pay-per-view proceeds, Nathanielsz called Filipinos an insignificant quantity in the US.
Yes, Nathanielsz has belittled Filipino presence in the United States to justify what Murad had perceived to be his right to take Pacquiao’s PPV share.
Here’s part of that incredible lecture Nathanielsz has written in his column in the Manila Standard Today on Saturday:
“Would Morales’ handlers settle for parity with Pacquiao when Morales had done 10 previous successful PPV fights and Pacquiao none? …Besides, the Hispanics were known PPV supporters of Morales and the Filipinos in the US were an unknown quantity. Does this make any sense to you?”
Of course, that makes a lot of nonsense.
But not to a fickle patriot who could ride on falsehood to uphold his loyalty to a heartless cause.
Marcos himself would’ve disowned this stranger he had anointed as Pinoy.
