Sobering Sentiment

OK, another Manny rant. Except this is somebody else. Somebody else who chose to remain nameless in the Inquirer. If you recall, my constant theme when it comes to Manny the Chosen One is just to keep things in perspective. My sister who is obviously Filipina but who has not lived here in 28 years has never heard of Manny. I like this piece since it also calls for perspective and in different words that I would use.

Ed

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20081210-177074/Welcome-for-a-hero

Editorial
Welcome for a hero

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:15:00 12/10/2008

A colossal welcome awaits Manny Pacquiao this Wednesday in tribute to his colossal win over boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya. When he deplanes, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will be as one for at least one brief moment, and rich and poor alike will be thrilled by a conquering pugilist's homecoming. If in another age and another era, the great Joe Louis was the "Brown Bomber," then every Filipino should cheer and welcome home the "Kayumanggi Conqueror."

The national fiesta and homecoming will provide ample opportunity for all sorts of posers to bask in Pacquiao's reflected glory. A man who has never shrunk from enthusiastically demonstrating gratitude to patrons, past and present, Pacquiao can be expected to share the limelight not only generously but enthusiastically. And so it will be in Manila and all the way to General Santos City, where he plans to celebrate his 30th birthday.

But sooner, rather than later, the party will be over. And Pacquiao's thoughts will eventually turn to where various patrons and patrons-in-waiting want those thoughts to turn: to public service. Specifically, to politics, whether as endorser-campaigner, or candidate for office. Having been rebuffed once before in General Santos City, he has a congressional seat being dangled before him in Quezon City. In truth, it could be anywhere; in fact, the only obstacle to even higher office is simply his being too young to aspire to positions like a Senate seat.

But this early, we entreat him to resist political temptation. There is a saying that victory has a hundred fathers but defeat is an orphan. This was already the case when Pacquiao was reportedly dismayed over the way people easily spent his money and made extravagant promises, glibly sharing their expertise but leaving him less wealthy and with the bitter taste of political defeat in his own hometown.

Pacquiao's achievements have been fully his own, as far as boxing is concerned. His becoming a sports hero has led not only to riches, but also has won him the incomparable affections of an entire nation. That success and that affection are his because of how he unites a nation otherwise divided and discouraged by politics.

No one can doubt that Pacquiao is looking for a career that will not just give meaning to his life after boxing, but which will also allow him to help others as so many have helped him rise from rags to riches through sports. The question is not whether he can or should try to be a force for public good, but whether the public good is served by his entering politics.

His dogged determination, his dedication to his sport, his discipline and his ability to improve himself, all the while maintaining a sunny disposition and picking no quarrels with people outside the boxing ring, suggest to us that the greatest good for the greatest number lies in Pacquio staying out of the political arena. He is a political force by sheer force of being who he is-the man who unites-and staying that way.

No one, regardless of where they are in the political, partisan divide, begrudges him his affections for certain politicians. He can freely dispense endorsements for candidates as he endorses products; the people can cheerfully ignore such endorsements without damaging his standing or the affection in which he is held. No one, though, wants to see the day when a nation he united divides on the question of his candidacy for office.

Think of the tremendous — and formidable because unstoppable — good Pacquiao could achieve if he became not only an ambassador of goodwill for our country overseas, but of progress, harmony, and self-improvement within our national borders. Instead of being yet another has-been, a Bong Revilla or a Lito Lapid, languishing in impotent ridiculousness in our legislature, he could be barnstorming the country getting kids to study, to read, and to save. He could be everybody's friend, instead of just another face in Congress.

The law fully qualifies him for Congress. But that is not the point. The point is that the man who has done us all so proud has better things to do than to take sides. He has already risen above national and social divisions, and he should stick to the high road instead of going down the low road.