Category: pacquiao

pacquiao’s place

praising pacquiao by showbiz grande dame armida siguion-reyna aka tita midz is a good read.  specially this half:

Day after the fight, the papers had everybody who was anybody with a quote. Sen. Chiz Escudero hoped the boxer “inspires” those “easily disheartened by difficult challenges and setbacks.” Sen. Manny Villar credited Pacquiao as “reason to celebrate and stand proud of the Filipino race.” Sen. Dick Gordon lauded Pacquiao’s traits of “honest hard work, heart, experience, drive, pride an heroic elements” as “elements of a leader.” And from the diminutive Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio, who defeated Pacquiao in his first bid for Congress in 2007: “Thank you, Manny, for making us happy and proud once again.”

Most everyone expressed admiration for Mommy Dionisia’s son, and not only politicians. So did the MILF, perhaps the most realistic of all, for soon after recognizing Pacquiao’s skill, it said through a spokesman: “Boxing is a sport. But time will come and someone stronger will fight him and he will definitely lose.” The religious, with the Bishop of Cotabato claiming the victory as “answered prayers,” and Jesus is Lord leader Eddie Villanueva joining the praise.

And big business, through effusive statements from the likes of Aurelio Montinolla III, president of the Bank of Philippine Islands; Francis Lim, president of the Philippine Stock Exchange; Ramon Ang, president of San Miguel Corp.

Not to forget the one moving heaven and earth that she not be forgotten, wanting to run as congressman in next year’s elections. Gloria Arroyo, in Singapore for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum saying: “I hope we can all learn from his example so that, together, we can also move forward as a nation.”

Arroyo conveniently kept silence on who held us back from progress, as did her House Speaker who went to watch the fight live in Vegas, and later on innocently stated, “At least for one brief shining moment, we in the Philippines forgot all our problems, troubles and political back-biting and fighting each other.” A big fat hello, to the both of them, for playing dedma to their horrible misdeeds that caused our problems to begin with.

And it gets worse, and dreadfully so, when former activist and currently Arroyo spokesman Gary Olivar enters the picture, with “We have exhausted all possible honors and awards that could possibly be heaped on Manny because of his many victories. So if the administration party would want to include him in its senatorial slate, that’s the decision of the ruling party.”

Argh.

I clarify I’m just as proud as every other Filipino to have a kababayan declared as the “greatest fighter of the era.” This one’s clearly no ordinary champion pugilist, he has seven weight-class titles to his name — flyweight, super bantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight and light welterweight — the first fighter ever to do so. His wins have been decisive, the one with Cotto had to be stopped in the 11th round by the referee out of mercy for the Puerto Rican who was so clearly outclassed by his opponent on the boxing arena, spouting blood — sa madaling sabi, magaling talaga si Pacquiao, sobrang galing niya.

But must we have him as senator, too?

It’s bad enough that when we applaud him for his boxing skills, we also almost insist he’s the greatest Filipino barring none, and by such fulsome approbation practically tell our young boys to stop going to school and consider boxing and nothing else but, we have to have him as legislator?

We professed paghanga to the OFWs and called them our “bagong bayani” for keeping our economy afloat with their remittances. The OFWs children wanted to be OFWs as well, it’s not a big percentage out there who want to be doctors, lawyers or teachers, most just wanted to earn dollars, period, and this has been so for years on end.

Similarly, what will our next generations want to be, the way we go overboard and salivate at the feet of a Manny Pacquiao? And on another (side) issue, hey. It’s good to praise the worthy, but how truly worthy is worthy when Pambansang Kamao and Pambansang Kulasisi go hand in hand?

pacquiao says he’s interested in running for office because he wants to continue helping the filipino people after he hangs up the boxing gloves.   but he has no experience or preparation or training of any kind for government office or politics, so why go there?   why not stay with sports instead, take on the cause of the philippine sports, raise funds for sports development nationwide, prepare our athletes for international competitions para hindi naman tayo parati na lang kulelat sa rankings. national sports is where he can continue to make a major difference.

manny pacquiao for congressman, for senator, for president, mananalo kasi, is a bad joke.   plain idiocy.   ilagay naman natin sa lugar ang pagmamahal natin kay pacquiao.   he is an absolutely stunning athlete who wows the world with his physical prowess and we’re very proud of him but but but but but but but he should not be allowed to think na okay lang na pumasok siya sa pulitika when all he’s got going for him is popularity.   he should not be allowed to think na okay lang na pumasok siya sa showbiz bilang singer at movie superhero just because he wants to, never mind na pang-karaoke lang ang singing niya at pang-commercial lang ang acting niya.

it’s like, how ironic, and pathetic, that after raising the bar for athletes he proceeds to lower the bar, as if it weren’t low enough, for elective officials and showbiz artists.   what a drag.

anthem angsts

the tempest over the national anthem in the wake of martin nievera’s relatively radical version is no small teacup thing.   this is one question that every pinoy who grew up memorizing and singing lupang hinirang feels qualified to weigh in on.   and i dare say that pinoys who hated it that martin played around with the beat and the endnotes outnumber pinoys who didn’t mind at all, whether they liked martin’s arrangement and/or rendition or not.

martin was warned:

If only Martin Nievera listened to the advice of maestro Ryan Cayabyab, he would not be embroiled in national controversy.

The renowned musician said here that he warned Nievera not to change the melody of the National Anthem at the opening of Sunday’s Pacquiao-Hatton bout in Las Vegas.

“Martin, papatayin ka ng tao. Huwag mong papalitan yung huling part kasi delikado ka. (Martin, you will be crucified for that. Don’t change the last part or you’ll be in trouble),” Cayabyab recalled telling Nievera.

He said Nievera sent him a copy of his nontraditional rendition of the Lupang Hinirang five days before the fight.

Cayabyab, who’s fondly called by his friends and singers as Mr C, said that the country’s concert king first confided to him about his plan to jazz up the national anthem during ASAP, ABS-CBN’s Sunday noontime variety show.

He urged Nievera to sing Lupang Hinirang the regular way because other Filipinos would join him in singing.

Nievera, however, told Cayabyab that he would push through with his plan because he’s “doing it for the country.”

Still, Cayabyab insisted that he should not change the last part.

… Cayabyab said he would be open to join the debate on how the National Anthem be sung.

“As a musician, I will stick to the original because that is how the composer meant it to be,” he said.

the latest news is that martin has sort of apologized in the face of very negative feedback from the national historical institute and the threat of criminal charges being filed against him by a cavite congressman for violation of Republic Act 8491, or the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.

“I do apologize only to the people afraid of progress and change, of course, the lawmakers and to whomever took offense to my interpretation of probably the most beautiful song I’ve ever come across,” Nievera said in a text message.

fighting words, for an apology.    i suppose because martin has powerful backers from the palace right all the way to the partylist left, who are even hoping to amend the law to allow for freedom of expression and artistic license.   big mistake.

bottom line the question is:  do we hew to the traditional, the original, the classic, or do we bow to the the new, the fresh, the modern, the cool.

now i’m usually all for creativity and change, improvisation, breaking out of patterns, but in the matter of the national anthem i am all for the old-fashioned way.   i am all for hewing to the traditional, the original, specially on big occasions here and abroad.   because pinoys in the audience will be singing along.   whether quietly or out loud we will be singing along, we will want to sing along, and there can be no singing along if singers are allowed to sing it any “creative” way they please.    there can be no getting into the spirit of the anthem when the beat is unfamiliar, the phrasing unusual, the notes unpredictable, the singer self-indulgent.

Our anthem is march music borne out of a revolutionary struggle. It is the spirit of the anthem. Felipe composed the music as a march, commissioned by Emilio Aguinaldo for the proclamation of the Kawit Republic on June 12, 1898. It was originally titled “Marcha Filipina Magdalo,” and was first played by the San Francisco de Malabon Band. It was composed to fire up revolutionary spirit and resistance, to fight against all odds as the Kawit republic struggled for its life.

…Nievera said he was told by many, including Pacquiao, “not to sing it slow.” They wanted him “to sing it like a march, the way it was written.” Ignoring those warnings, Nievera interpreted the song the way he understood it. He said that “from the deepest part of my heart I sang for my country.” He explained that he tried “to inspire a nation-which was all I tried to do.”

Many Filipinos did not like what they heard. Many believed his tampering with or distortion of the arrangement of Felipe robbed the anthem of its martial context. The revolutionary spirit was lost in the alteration. It sounded as if the music was composed in a milieu of peace and tranquility when in reality it was composed amid one of the most turbulent periods of the Filipino people’s struggle for independence and national sovereignty. The period was the end of the Spanish empire and the advent of another colonial rule by the expansionist, imperial America.

Nievera’s explanations do not justify his alterations. Singers without a sense of history, who sing for their pleasure, strip historic musical themes of their meaning.

martin also said, to justify those radical end-notes:

“I have watched many of Manny’s fights, and whenever the national anthem is sung, I could never hear the most important line, ‘Ang mamatay nang dahil sa ‘yo (To die for you)!’ So I elected to end the song big, [the better to] be heard over the usual screams and boos, and … get the final message of the song across.”

hmm.   how was the anthem sung ba in previous pacquiao fights.   di ba’t iniba-iba rin ang interpretation every time?   di ba’t iniangal ng nhi every time dahil hindi ayon sa orihinal?   next time pacquiao should invite a singer who has nothing to prove except the ability to lead filipinos in song.   with pacquiao’s pinoys singing along, i have no doubt that that most important line will resound for all the world, and martin, to hear.

proud pero medyo praning

what a show.    short and sweet and stunning.   mabuhay si manny pacquiao.   sana makarami pa siya.   sana pagyamanin pa niya ang galing niya sa boksing.   sana i-test pa niya ang limits of his unique body-mind-spirit now that he’s peaking and seemingly at the height of his powers.   sana saka na lang ang pulitika.

i hate boxing actually, too violent for me, can’t stand to see two people hurting each other physically, no matter what the provocation or the rationale.   it is enough that we hurt each other mentally, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, that is, with our minds and hearts and words.

but manny pacquiao on the world stage has been impossible to ignore, he’s one of us, and, yes, he’s doing a great job as boxing champ and ambassador of goodwill.   what spoils it for me lang is the political agenda, parlaying the popularity into political power.   already the system has got him by the balls.

the spin is on: pacquiao for president (actually he’ll settle for congressman).   a tribute to pacquiao as pop icon that reflects questionably on the pinoy electorate.   says ducky paredes in malaya:

When his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank introduces Manny Pacquiao as “a future president of the Philippines,” is this an insult to the Filipino people? Are we to be regarded as a people who will vote for anyone with a little fame and with popularity? Are our elections nothing more than popularity contests?

Why should we feel insulted when Arum is only showing us what we really are? An electorate of fools who vote according to superficials but expect the highest order of public service. Why expect anything more than a handsome face when we vote the actor based on his image as he portrays himself on the silver screen? Why expect anything more from someone who buys our votes with his advertisements and even actual cash at the voting booth?

A congressman observed even before Pacquiao made mincemeat of the feared and highly regarded Ricky Hatton that Manny would be a cinch to be elected into Congress. In fact, if he were to run to represent athletes and boxers in our multifarious party list system wherein everything and everyone except gays are allowed representation, a Pacquiao Party would probably have the maximum allowable representation. I predict that it will have more votes than any other Party List.

Manny Pacquiao for President? Why not? As far as what we can expect of a Pacquiao presidency (ten or more years from now when he has become of age) Manny is probably more God-fearing and loves the Pinoy more than anyone else we have ever tried as president.

What is insulting from the Arum introduction of Manny Pacquiao is that Bob regards the rest of the Pinoys as being nothing more than adoring boxing fans who would take a Muhammad Ali or an Oscar de la Hoya or the latest unqualifiedly best boxer (for now) of all time who is today Manny Pacquiao as if they were God to be given the highest place in our history and present society.

Sadly for the Philippines, Bob Arum has hit the right button. Whatis our voting record? Whom have we been picking as our leaders if not the rich and the famous amongst us? And, for now, who is richer and more famous than Manny Pacquiao?

he’ll be even richer and more famous when he again enters the ring, maybe in october, against whoever, good for him.   pero sana sana sana naman ay magaw’an ng paraan ni pacquiao at ng gma 7 at solar sports na mapanood ng mas nakararaming pinoy ang laban in real-time.   say ni john nery sa inquirer:

The decision by the giant GMA network and long-timeblocktimer Solar Sports to delay the telecast of Manny Pacquiao’s Las Vegas fights to accommodate innumerable ads is creating a second class of TV viewers: those who cannot afford to watch pay-per-view TV or do not wish or know how to follow a boxing match on AM radio. Think about it: several million Filipinos saw or heard Ricky Hatton fall a third and final time just before noon last Sunday. The rest of the nation saw the perfectly leveraged left hook which knocked Hatton out even before he hit the canvas when it was already almost three in the afternoon.

I’ve read a statement from GMA, placing the burden squarely on the shoulders of Solar Sports. While it is true that Solar earns through the advertising, GMA cannot be entirely blameless; it sets the rate which Solar must pay.

Pacquiao’s many fans deserve to watch his fights live. Solar can make it happen by dramatically raising its ad rates and drastically reducing the number of advertisers. A company that picks up the entire tab-a San Miguel, say, or a PLDT, ponying up about as much as it does for an Olympic sponsorship-will reap a nation’s gratitude.

hear! hear!

as for martin nievera’s rendition of lupang hinirang, may pagka-OA ang delivery but it was, uh, interesting, even if it sounded to me a mite flat on that final sustained note.