By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
Pacquiao is the only boxer in the 150-year history of boxing to hold world titles in eight weight divisions. His contests are watched at home with a level of idolatry bordering obsession by 70 per cent of the 100 million Filipino population.
However, Pacquiao insists that “the biggest fight in my life is how to end poverty in my country.” He means business, too. The little man from South East Asia, standing 5ft 6ins in his cotton socks, and who weighs 10st 7lb, has risen from pauper to a prince of pugilism. Not since Muhammad Ali has one boxer had such a galvanising social impact worldwide.
He was elected to Congress as a politician in 2010 and, in this week, has made his first serious challenge to the reigning president over condom use.
There are two major issues in The Philippines. Interference from the Catholic church and corruption. A political mire straddles both fields.
Pacquiao’s rise into politics was phenomenal, on a wave of local word of mouth support. He ousted a family dynasty which had ruled politically in Sarangani for three generations, and won a landslide victory. His has become a great orator in his native dialect, and in tagalog.
It is enshrined in law that armed national military guards protect Pacquiao’s residence 24/7 in General Santos City, such is his standing nationally. He carried the flag for his country at the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Games in Beijing; he head is etched onto postage stamp; and his title as ‘The National Fist’ has been accepted into the vernacular.
The only comparison I can come up with of equal status in the UK would be, say, a figure who incorporates the sporting popularity of David Beckham, the quasi-feverish adoration of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, combined with the rock star status of a modern music icon who is afforded leeway and a degree of freedom.
His vices are a penchant for gambling at baccarat, and gambling at cock-fighting.
Perhaps in some crass way, encouraging a generation to go and have tribes of children could create a ‘Pacquiao generation’, which, in a couple of decades, would vote in the glorious new leader. There are those who believe Pacquiao is a nailed-down future President of that country within a decade. There is definitely the sense with some Filipinos that Pacquiao would have made the perfect revolutionary grass-roots leader in another age.
Granville Ampong, a respected Filipino writer on politics and history, based in Los Angeles, told me last year that Pacquiao for many, embodies the spirit of the ‘Maharlikan’, the original tribe which occupied the islands in the south china seas before the invasions of the Spanish, and Americans.
Ampong said: “The early life of Manny Pacquiao serves as a paradigm shift to show people what life can really be like. Manny launched himself in US as part of The American Dream, but seen in the context of The Philippines, he has become an icon for Filipinos, not just for their future dreams, but for future generations to look up to. Manny bridges the generations.”
There is the suggestion that each time Manny fights, he has a soothing affect on the ills of the nation. Muslim insurgents lay down their arms against the national army in a truce when he fights. Yet he also represents the strength of the Catholic faith.
“Other than inspiration, he has great spirituality. You can see men, women, children, beggars with tears in their eyes because they can see an icon they have been dreaming of for so long. The Philippines has lost the essence of being a true Maharlikan nation. Long before the Spanish conquered the island [and renamed it after the Spanish royal Felipe] the Maharlikans were a great nation. The spirit of the Maharlikan was imbued with a sense of royalty, and one of divinity.
"Manny has that parallel in his life. He is a genuine real national hero.”
Pacquiao has already involved himself politically, for example, in US-Filipino relations. US President Barack Obama watched Pacquiao’s latest fight in Las Vegas two weeks ago, after the world’s leading boxer and his wife Jinkee had a pow-wow in the White House with the leading man. Pacquiao called it “one of the highlights” of his life, but he also used the visit to press home a point about US-Filipino import/export relations in the textile industry. And it worked, with the law having changed with benefit to both countries. It is said that it has made an impact on 400,000 Filipinos involved in that country’s textile industry. Pacquiao’s generosity knows no bounds.
Huge queues form outside his house for handouts when he returns from his multi-million dollar earning contests in the United States. “There is a welfare state in the Philippines,” explained Bob Arum, the veteran boxing promoter who oversees the fighter’s career, and who once promoted Muhammad Ali. “It’s called Manny Pacquiao.”
When Pacquiao speaks, a nation listens.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment