INQUIRER.net Eleksyon 2007

The miseducation of Manny Pacquiao

Cebu Daily News

Joeber Bersales

WHOM the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad, the Greek philosopher Seneca once said. And Manny Pacquiao’s devil-may-care attitude towards running for a seat in Congress borders on madness. After prevaricating for a few weeks, he has finally come down the moral high ground the Filipino people afforded him, following untold victories in the boxing arena.

In a country bereft of modern-days heroes in the flesh (remember Ninoy Aquino had to die to be glorified), Manny Pacquiao was quickly embraced by all and sundry, for he was seemingly above the everyday and the ordinary. Now, everything is about to unravel.

How could someone whom every Filipino felt as his or her own son, father or grandson, suddenly slide from legend to ordinary mortal?

If there is one lesson to be learned from this experience, it is that naked ambition knows no bounds in life. At 28 and already an undisputed millionaire and internationally-renowned pugilist, Pacquiao has now shown before the teeming masses of disappointed ex-fans that he does not deserve the accolade they gave him as a man worthy of staying above the fray of dirty, open political madness.

I understand from friends living in General Santos City that Pacquiao had, since his multi-million-dollar boxing successes, been deluged almost daily with the poor seeking his help. And that this may be one of the major reasons why he has decided to join the political arena.

There is little doubt about this young man’s zeal to be of service to his fellow Filipinos. What is appalling is the path he wishes to take in order to do this.

Coming out of a life of poverty, Pacquiao now wishes to further his stature by going down the murky world of politics with nothing but the sincerity of an innocent mind misguided, I am sure, by overzealous advisers hell-bent on removing one more oppositionist from the next Congress. Despite calls from all over the country and from much of the boxing world, he refuses to heed the call to back down and stand above petty ambition.

I am afraid Pacquiao will go down the road that Fernando Poe Jr. went through. Thrust into the political limelight after a life lived in quiet elegance and comfort, FPJ allowed himself to be carried away by advisers who rode on his sincerity, only to be disappointed by the realities of Philippine politics.

This will be a learning experience for Pacquiao. Therefore, I wish him nothing but the best. And, should he win this latest and probably the greatest fight of his life two months from now, I hope he takes seriously the lessons he shall partake as the campaign heats up, as he sees his fellow men and women beg for his money to help them deliver their votes to him.

But then again, who knows what the gods have in store for him?

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