THE day after the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout, I received the following text message on my mobile phone: Margarito may have been beaten black and blue but he did what every Filipino has always dreamed of doing, punch a congressman in the face.
The dream part was a joke, the one about the punch in the face, not. The Sarangani congressman?s appearance the day after the otherwise lopsided bout showed it all: swollen lips and a puffy cheek, courtesy of the Mexican boxer?s fists.
The Manny Pacquiao Blog. Stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.
I hope I have seen the last bruised and brutalized face of a Filipino lawmaker. Which is why I am urging Pacquiao to keep away from boxing while he?s still serving as Sarangani congressman. Don?t get me wrong. Boxing is an honorable sport and Pacquiao has brought more international honor and pride to the country than all the congressmen combined. But brawling and lawmaking don?t mix. They are mutually exclusive.
Pacquiao?s place in boxing history is already assured. His record of eight world titles in eight different weight divisions is unparalleled. And there are no more worthy challengers to his throne, save perhaps for one.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is an undefeated boxer whose fists are as loud as his mouth. His record in the ring is impressive and he remains the only fighter of note that the Pacman has not brought down to his knees. A win over the American loudmouth would cement Manny Pacquiao?s claim as the greatest boxer ever or at least of his generation.
But Mayweather is afraid to fight Manny so why should he waste time on the semi-retired boxer? He should leave Mayweather to his petty thievery.
Quit while you?re ahead, Pacman and spare us the pain from watching an honorable gentleman of the House being punched in the face many times. That is not our dream.
***
Why can?t one offer a differing view on the reproductive health (RH) bill without getting a violent reaction from the proposed measure?s opponents?
Malcolm Potts was in Manila last Thursday for a population conference that he helped organize at the Asian Institute of Management. There, he warned against the dire economic, environmental and security problems that the Philippines will face if its population balloons to 160 million in the next 40 years.
?Unless the RH bill goes through and unless you are able to offer the poorest economic quintile the choices that they deserve, then people will be poorer,? Potts said, according to the Inquirer. ?You will be importing food, you will be more like Somalia than Thailand.?
This did not sit well with Para?aque Rep. Roilo Golez, who opposes the RH bill. He wants Potts deported for allegedly insulting the Philippines by his comparison with Somalia.
I cannot understand what Golez is so upset about. Potts didn?t claim that we are now like Somalia but that we will be if we don?t do something about our galloping population growth. What?s wrong with that?
Only a few weeks ago, former US president Bill Clinton was also in the country and told a forum at the Manila Hotel that population growth would be good for the country. The remark was quickly embraced by the anti-RH groups as gospel truth. No one asked for his deportation or that he be barred from entering the country again.
Potts may be an abortionist as Golez claims but being guilty of an indiscretion (abortion is legal in some American states) abroad does not necessarily make one an undesirable visitor. Otherwise, what would that make of Clinton, whose sperm was found in Monica Lewinsky?s skirt instead of where it should have been?
We allowed Clinton to come and go on his terms. We should grant the same privilege to Potts.
