By Ronnie Nathanielsz
While the Filipino is gifted with many wonderful and commendable traits, there is unfortunately one distressing facet that rears its ugly head from time to time. And that is the tendency to try to hurt and even to try and bring down those who have accomplished much and received justifiable accolades for what they have done.
This dark desire is one motivated by personal agendas or selfish motives and is lacking in genuine concern or sincerity. In recent days we have seen this ugly side in all its ugliness both in the case of Manny Pacquiao and the tragedy that befell ABS-CBN’s highly-popular noontime show.
We will be the first to agree that Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao should look after a son, supposedly fathered by him, if indeed it is his son. There’s absolutely no quarrel here. However, one cannot help but seriously question the timing of the story and the accusations which somehow appeared to be well-planned judging by the media coverage, the photo opportunities and everything else.
It seems that whoever thought of this did so at a time when Pacquiao was at the peak of his career and when a nation adored him as a modern-day hero at a time when our people were crying out for one. It came out on the very day that the country’s business flagship San Miguel Corporation and its president and CEO Ramon Ang – themselves achievers of remarkable proportions through good times and bad – was to announce a once-in-a-lifetime agreement that reinforced our own classification of Pacquiao as a national treasure.
If the goal was to devalue the agreement in the public’s estimation and hurt both SMC and Pacquiao, it didn’t work. That same day Pacquiao was greeted with incredible warmth by a bevy of 26 of the loveliest girls in the Binibining Pilipinas beauty contest and was given a lengthy standing ovation by a huge crowd that jammed the Araneta Coliseum for Game 1 of the PBA Finals. If there was a message that could be gleaned from all this, it is that the public is sick and tired of digging into the private lives of people and that it is high time we focus on the achievements of Filipinos and not their shortcomings or failures.
There appears to be a similar trend in the way ABS-CBN is being pilloried due to the recent disaster at the ULTRA where over 70 people lost their lives while hoping to break free from their abject poverty.
While we have never had any personal dealings with Gaby Lopez of ABS-CBN and have had serious questions about their use of the power of the giant network to try and get what they want, to condemn them in the vilest language for a tragedy that they never dreamed of or wanted to happen was tasteless and mean. It also seems to us, not in keeping with journalistic responsibilities for others, including their rivals, to milk every drop of anti-ABS-CBN sentiment in the hope that they would benefit from it in terms of ratings and income which is, no doubt, the bottom line. To insinuate that ABS-CBN did all it did for money doesn’t wash when those who seek to bring down the network are also doing it for what they can get out of it –ratings which translate into revenues. In many ways its like the Pacquiao case although if the tragedy hit GMA 7, ABS-CBN would probably have done the same thing.
When there is so much to be proud of it seems such a crying shame that at a time when Pacquiao has earned for the Filipino and the Philippines the kind of international respect and attention we had long lost, there are those among us who would seek to diminish the gallant warrior’s standing in the consciousness of our people.
We are not defending Pacquiao’s indiscretion if indeed he was guilty of one but we ask that all of us consider the youthfulness of the young man who broke free from the bondage of poverty to carve a name for himself – and our country – with his indomitable courage, his incredible skill and his fists of fury. Let him handle his responsibilities - as we are confident he will if he has to - but let us respect his privacy as we are sure others would want us to respect theirs.
Manny Pacquiao is a national treasure who has shone like a beacon in a troubled time. He has fired the imagination, lifted our spirits and restored our self-respect. The glow of a treasure is meant to be preserved not tarnished. Manny Pacquiao deserves no less.