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.