Senator Pacquiao

So I saw a news segment recently about how people have "mixed reactions" to Manny Pacquiao's decision to keep boxing despite being elected a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines. People are concerned that this would split his focus and he wouldn't be able to serve the country well with him training and all. 

For me, it's the opposite. I'm very happy that he's boxing again. This means that he won't be working hard as a senator and therefore, he won't do as much damage to the country as he normally might.

The people expressing dismay over Manny's life choices operate from the mistaken premise that the Senate, and the entire legislative branch of the country for that matter, are doing good for the country. Nope. The legislature is filled with either incompetent celebrity boobs or corrupt greedy assholes. It's not an institution worthy of trust.

To put it simply, a senator that's not working is a senator that's not screwing over the Filipino people. Good on Manny. Let him box. In fact, his track record as the number one absentee back when he was in the House is something to celebrate. By not doing anything, he's doing great! Thanks for not causing damage!

Besides, Manny isn't exactly senator material. I won't say he's dumb like other people assume because he's not. He's probably more knowledgeable in the art of boxing than the average person. His intelligence lies in the sweet science but on the senate floor? Perhaps not so. But could you imagine what would happen if Manny Pacquiao devoted his entire physical and mental energies on his senatorial gig? Can you imagine the chaos that a barely comprehensible, religious nut like him can cause? We should be grateful he seems more inclined to hurt Mexicans than us Filipinos.

You be you, Manny.

Gay Animals

“Would you see any species of animals engaging in male-to-male, female-to-female (sexual) relations? Animals, then, are better than humans. They know how to distinguish males from females. If men mate with men and women mate with women they are worse than animals.”

The quote above is from Manny Pacquiao when asked on what he thought of same-sex marriage. Naturally, the outrage machine went into overdrive and everyone, even Floyd Mayweather, has been getting their hits in and driving Manny to the ropes.

If anyone has paid attention to Manny the public figure and not Manny the boxer, it's immediately obvious that Manny isn't very bright, is somewhat of a religious nut and is terrible at public speaking. I hate to sound so condescending, but it's true. Manny is famous for his skill at inflicting grievous harm on people, not his skill at rhetoric. Cut the guy some slack. He's Spartacus, not Cicero.

I don't necessarily agree with Manny but he has a right to speak his mind. Good on him. I respect people who do that, no matter how strident they seem. I feel bad for him actually. He doesn't know how these things work. He doesn't know how to play the game of political correctness. When you become a celebrity, you cease being your own man for some reason. I don't even know how this started. You have to say and do all the "correct" things and make sure you don't hurt anybody's feelings. Manny, the simple person that he is, actually believed that he still had freedom of speech and religion. What an idiot. You're supposed to lie, Manny, you're a public figure now and a politician at that. Act like one. That's the foundation of society; deceit. Keep your true feelings to yourself and just say what people want to hear. He should have just given an agreeable, milquetoast non-answer like, "I believe love is important." or something. Playing people requires skill, a skill I don't think he has.

This isn't about the gays. Gay marriage will never happen in this country as long as the church exists. It's a foregone conclusion; an issue fit only to be argued in academic circles. What this is about is the "outrageous" (but not wholly unexpected) statement by a well-known public figure and the amount of benefit people can get by condemning him. There's a lot of pogi points to be scored by condemning Manny for his "ignorance" and "lack of tolerance". Frankly, I find the preening, the posturing and the virtue signalling going on a lot more disgusting than Manny's comments. People are going overboard making themselves look good at his expense. But I suppose that's how it must be. Everyone is for "speaking your mind" until someone actually does.

Consequences? Westerners take this shit more seriously than we do so there's bound to be some blow-back from their side. In fact, Nike is allegedly pulling their sponsorship from Manny. Gee, they didn't seem to have a problem with Manny before when he was making them millions. Locally, I don't think it will amount to much. The secret is that many people actually agree with Manny about homosexuality being unnatural and are against same-sex marriage. People aren't going to throw Manny overboard for this. It's really just the professional outrage experts on Facebook and Twitter raising a fuss. The common folk don't give a shit. They never do. If people can get over a vulgar boor like Duterte eating women's faces on live TV, a guy like Manny can get by with this little gaffe.

Why is this headline news?

Hai Naku

Live in Las Vegas
Living vicariously
People's Champion

I got nothing...

MayPac: The Neverending Story

Not a single day goes by without the media doing a special report on how Manny Pacquiao is preparing for his fight against Floyd Mayweather. It's like watching the Rocky training montage nonstop 24/7. Try it. Watch the video below nonstop dawn till dusk and that's pretty much the Philippine media.

It's already declared as the fight of the century and if you judge how important something is based on web hits and traffic, then the upcoming bout is the most important thing to Filipinos at the moment. It's even more important than our looming power crisis or the bargaining away of our sovereignty to terrorists for a vague promise of peace.

It's really amazing how so much attention and energy is given for what is simply a boxing match between two millionaires. What's even more amazing is how the hype is being maintained daily with no signs of dying down. I think it's too much. Normally. I'd gripe about how our nation has its priorities all mixed up and how its citizens care more for an inconsequential bout than real issues of substance but that's too easy. It's just too easy.

I don't think our problems will go away after this boxing match. The sun will still rise over this country and its wretched people. The idiot will still be President. Nothing will change. Nothing ever changes.

For now, it's nonstop hype day in and day out. There's a lot of people who will make a lot of money out of this so if you don't care, you will be made to eventually.

What if Pacquiao loses though? Wouldn't that be something after all that hype?

I Put A Spell On You

So Manny Pacquiao earned a victory against Timothy Bradley. Well, good for him. You may think I don't like Manny Pacquiao given the tone of my writings but it's not him I don't like. Rather, it's the legions of "pinoy pride" mouth-breathers that annoy me. I'd rather credit a man's own hard work and perseverance than the notion that being born somewhere gives you magic powers. "Genius has no country", as Rizal said. Besides, how can one reconcile "pinoy pride" of Manny Pacquiao's victory when he had to go abroad to a foreign country to succeed?

Anyway, the funniest thing during the fight was when "Mommy D", Manny Pacquiao's mom, began pointing to Bradley with the bad finger on one hand while clutching a rosary and prayer slips (?) on the other. She was then visibly muttering stuff to herself... or at someone. The Internet ate it up and joked that she was casting a hex on Bradley.

Here in Cebu, the term is "barang". Barang is understood as a curse or some kind of evil sorcery used to bring sickness or misfortune against someone, like an enemy. Personally, I think it's horse dung but the mouth-breathers are the kind to believe in that sort of thing. More entertainment for everyone, I guess.

Maybe she was just trolling.

Heroes End

It finally happened. It finally freakin' happened. The Hitman series was finally ruined by Square Enix. Also, Manny Pacquiao lost.

So... how about that fight yesterday?

It was bound to happen yet there's shock and disbelief. What were people expecting? You can't win them all.

I don't really care for boxing. I think it's immoral and depraved. I feel like it's wrong to see people beat each other for money. At least pro-wrestling is fake but I digress. Manny Pacquiao seemed to walk right into a knockout punch like he wasn't paying attention. Either his opponent was extremely lucky or Manny was careless, either way, it was decisive. Bet you can't claim it was rigged now, eh?

How many Mexicans does it take to knock Manny out? Just Juan. (canned laughter)

But seriously though, knockouts do terrible damage to the brain. So why did he lose? Some commentators suggest Manny wasn't "hungry" anymore and his success made him complacent. Mommy Dionisia (Manny's mother) blames the pastors and attributes Manny's previous success to his Christian faith. Manny is "born again" you see. Somehow I find the former more convincing. I don't think an omnipotent and all-powerful God gives half a rat's ass about a boxing match.

The Philippine Star has an article suggesting the loss is a "national day of mourning". Excuse me? Hundreds are dead in Compostela from a huge typhoon and a boxer's loss is cause for national mourning? Come on people, get a grip. Fans online and in social media are all upset and crying. Well, if you project all your "pinoy pride" on one person, it's bound to disappoint you.

I never got the whole "I'm proud to be a Filipino because of Manny Pacquiao" thing. I mean, I just don't get it. My mind struggles to make logical connections between being proud of your collective race because of the success of an individual. Does his success imply all of us make good boxers? That cannot be true. Does it imply the drive to excel and succeed, as exemplified by him, are traits exclusive to Filipinos? That's not true either. Does that mean we "produced" a champion like Manny and therefore we should be proud of ourselves? Nah, if you recall, it took a foreigner named Roach and another foreign promoter to recognize Manny's talent. If anything, we should be proud that our poverty and wretched living conditions forced Manny to punch people for a living in the first place. Is that the point? I hope not.

My bold prediction that Manny Pacquiao will be the next President is a bit less likely now.