Pacquiao and Penaflorida

I wanted to share something with you that my Auntie Mameng emailed the article to the family. I read it and it was quiet interesting and I totally agree…why did the news of Penaflorida was not mentioned and it took a CNN Report on Heroes to recognize his achievements? Why didn’t the philippine press knew about it? Read the article below, I can’t give you as to where the article but the name of the person wrote it and where it was copied from.  I rec’d this as an email.

Manny Pacquiao’s latest victory in the ring against Miguel Cotto has spurred on an exceptional feeling of national pride and unity among Filipinos. Victory and success are, after all, what make the difference between enjoying copious social, psychological, and financial dividends and experiencing an unhealthy dampening of one’s image and reputation. Besides, it is only human nature to balk at any hint of a loser.

Fortunately for Filipinos, they can be proud and grateful that one of their own is an incomparable winner on the national and global stage. Insofar as Pacquiao has become what Time Magazine calls a “demi-god” in the Philippines, his growing stature in the pantheon of memorable international fighters is inspiring Filipinos to see their hopes and dreams crystallize in his person and celebrity. Many Filipinos would insist that Pacquiao is the best thing going for the Philippines right now and that he represents what they can accomplish as individual citizens and as a national community.

This sentiment—a sentiment that has swollen into cult-like proportions in the more than a decade that has passed since we saw the first of Pacquiao’s many spectacular victories—however is somewhat misguided. In a recent Philippine Daily Inquirer online article, a Filipino call center agent who was asked for his opinion about Pacquiao’s knockout of Cotto, proclaimed that “the victory of Manny showed to the world we are equal to them and if we try harder, even better than them.” Another call center worker said that “Now they cannot put down our race, Manny has raised it. His hard work and victory should serve as an inspiration.”

Absolutely central to these assertions is a presumption that people everywhere are boxing fans, or at least sports fans to some extent, and that they will strain their perspectives of the world through the filter of professional athletic achievement or lack thereof. However, these Filipinos mentioned in the Inquirer article are guilty of lumping an important theme under the rubric of professional sports. That is the theme of Filipino pride and respect. And considering how zealous we are to place our sports heroes on a divine pedestal, that rubric should strike us as one steeped not in reality, but in wish-fulfillment and escapism.

Manny Pacquiao arguably has no peers in the boxing world, although Floyd Mayweather, Jr. may have something to say about that. Pacquiao’s God-given skills and talent are a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon. I contend that it will probably take another thirty or forty years before we see another Filipino fighter of Pacquiao’s caliber. This is not meant as a criticism of Filipino fighters. Rather, it just affirms that there is only a tiny sliver of boxers who rise above the mass of fighters trying to make it in their chosen profession. Pacquiao happens to be one of those destined to be in that miniscule percentile of fighters to have achieved greatness.

All of which brings me to my next point. If Pacquiao is so utterly singular and unique as a prizefighter, which I’m sure we all agree is the case, and if the vast majority of aspiring boxers in any country, let alone the Philippines, never see the light of fame and fortune, how can Filipinos use him as a realistic precedent for proving what they are capable of? Shouldn’t they be using more down-to-earth and equally praiseworthy models like Efren Peñaflorida, CNN’s Hero of the Year award winner for 2009?

Peñaflorida received this altruistic award not by knocking out opponents in the ring, but for his commendable efforts in educating impoverished children in the Philippines. His educational program and “pushcart classroom” concept has helped educate poor children. Peñaflorida’s Dynamic Teen Company has a stated mission to reach out to poor children and to teach them reading, writing, and good hygiene.

A more exemplary and promising model that Filipinos can garner a deeper, more enduring sense of self-pride and respect from others should be constructed on Peñaflorida’s shining example.

I was just as proud as any other Filipino when Pacquiao continued his ascent up the ladder of boxing immortality with his defeat of Miguel Cotto. But as Ramon Tulfo wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, it took a foreign television network in CNN, as opposed to someone in the Philippines, to learn about Peñaflorida. Tulfo reminds Filipinos that Manny Pacquiao is not the only one they should look up to and that the Philippines “does not lack for living heroes.”

ALLEN GABORRO