WITHOUT a doubt, Sen. Emmanuel ‘Manny/Pacman’ Pacquiao, has given our country great prestige and honor. As the only 8-division world champion, we, as Filipinos, should be proud and unhesitating in our prediction that it would take a generation or more before anyone else on earth can achieve, or even surpass, what he has accomplished.
As man who literally rose from abject poverty to unprecedented fortune and fame, we also admire Sen. Manny for his humility and readiness to help others and mind you, without any fanfare, common to any politician.
In the world of boxing that has its share of shenanigans but which he still managed to dominate, no one can argue about the wisdom of his words and his decisions.
But clearly in the world of politics, sarcastically described as ‘public service,’ we are worried that Sen. Manny can take a hit from which his political career—and the nation too– might not be able to get up to continue the fight.
And this is because of the many ‘advisers’ that have started to flock to his side in the guise of “helping” him accomplish whatever his “vision” or “dream” is as a political leader of the country.
To put it more bluntly, in the world politics, Sen. Manny is still a “neophyte” regardless of the time he has spent as a congressman and now, as a senator.
We worry that because his intention is always good, Sen. Manny might end up taking advise from political hacks, opportunists and charlatans who would be playing his good intentions for their own benefit.
Thus far and thru his ‘body language,’ Sen. Manny appears ready to jump to a much higher national position in next year’s national elections.
Nothing wrong there because he is as much qualified as the other candidates.
But the problem starts should he gets elected and the weight and responsibilities of his new office—along with the bunch of shady characters that go with it—start to bear down on him.
Is he really up to the challenge of navigating the complex, murky water of national decision-making where people’s lives and future of the entire nation is at stake in every decision or pronouncement that he would make?
Already, Sen. Manny has blundered in the area of foreign policy when he criticized Pres. Duterte’s stand on our relationship with China and the United States, saying his criticism of the President’s stand on the South China Sea issue is also the “sentiment” of the “majority” of Filipinos. Clearly, it is not, as hyping up the issue are just US Imperialism and its local stooges—and Sen. Manny fell for it.
The great difference between national politics and boxing is that, in boxing, there is a ‘rematch clause’ in the fight contract.
In national statesmanship, there is none. A leader can only blunder once and with it, the nation goes with him.