November 13, 2010. (UTC -06 time zone) Manny Pacquiao claims his 8th world championship in a record-8th boxing weight division, defeating Antonio Margarito via unanimous decision.
Should it go down as a historic night in Philippine history? Or is it simply a career highlight?
OK, the Gen-San-turned-Saranggani hero won. Every professor will make occasional references in class about it. Every media outlet will headline it. Every government official will claim it as a national triumph.
But, when you really think about it, IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER TO US.
This is not to disgrace Pacquiao as an athlete. He is truly one of the all-time greats to set foot in the squared circle. When a guy wins 52 bouts, 38 by knockout, you know he is the real deal. His Southpaw style, his speed, and his combinations, add them up and we have a spectacle. And checking on his opponents during and after the match? Showing mercy? That is humility and sportsmanship, two things you can rarely find in pro sports these days. In a real-life, one-on-one uncensored fight, you will probably get knocked out by a single shot to the temple by PacMan. I know I will.
However, I do not understand why everyone is labeling this as a victory for the Philippines while in fact, this is only a win for Manny and his fans. Unless all (and only all) people living in the Philippines are fans of PacMan, which is of course not true. Remember, Manny Pacquiao is not representing the Philippines in his fights. Boxing is not like a beauty pageant with all the ladies competing for the coveted crown representing their countries. It is nice for Pacquiao to recognize and honor his origins, but let us not lose the real point here. WE should NOT be claiming any Pacquiao win as a national victory.
Take a beggar for example, walking the smoky streets of EDSA on a hot Sunday afternoon, wandering on the streets staring on a road to anything but prosperity and comfort. It so happens he passes through an eatery, with all these guys with big bellies and fifty pesos to bet on, watching as they await for the official decision. He then sees Pacquiao's hand raised on the TV screen. The majority of the guys watching will jump and celebrate, teasing their just-lost-fifty-pesos neighbors. The beggar then asks for spare money from one of the winning bettors. He is turned down. The beggar then walks away.
See, Pacquiao's triumphs will only give us a false sense of pride. What exactly are we proud of? A Filipino boxer claiming gold? If we are really proud of our country or at least our countrymen, why do we only say or feel pride when Pacquiao wins? Is his win any different from an achievement by, for example, a Filipino inventor solving the energy crisis? Don't you think it is unfair to all other world-class Filipino achievers that they have done something that will definitely help solve our current problems, but they do not receive the necessary exposure to help the cause? More importantly, when Pacquiao beats a Mexican boxer, a lot of people will claim, "Mas magaling ang Pilipinas kaysa Mehiko sa boksing". Is this true? What's true is that PacMan is better than that Mexican boxer.
Also, think about this. Maybe after PacMan knocks some sense into Floyd Gayweather in his final bout, he will most likely retire. After all, that would be the perfect ending for his career (and my own satisfaction since I despise Gayweather) and well, despite his powerful fists, he is only human. When the current Saranggani representative finally stays in Batasan Complex to do his legislative duties and of course, the never-ending TV appearances and a movie or two, I wonder if these patriotic, self-professed nationalistic authority figures and their "I'm proud to be Pinoy" thing will continue to be prominent. I mean, seriously, do we really have to wait until a 30-plus-year-old man will suffer from consistent body pain, near-bloodshut eyes, and constant retirement requests from his mother just to remind us of the fact that we are Filipinos? That we should be proud that we are Filipinos?
We are in the right direction. We are looking up to PacMan not just as a legendary, Hall-of-Fame-bound boxer, but a role-model Filipino. Thing is we should not just cheer him. We should follow his example. Maybe at the start of his career, he was simply fighting to get those paper bills to support himself and his family. He doesn't think about his country. He was out for himself. But now that he is on top, by recognizing his origins (albeit the wrong one at the moment because he is truly from General Santos City) and continuing to be virtually the same humble, respectful, religious person who truly loves his land, perhaps we should adopt the same attitude. And we can showcase that in more ways than one. How to show that is up to us. If you can read this (or have someone translate this for you), I am sure you are also capable of thinking about that as well.
Just don't forget. Do not be like the Clevelanders who felt betrayed because they heavily invested themselves on that self-professed basketball King who should have went to college to learn lessons of humility and respect.
Again, this is a heavy investment not worth taking.
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