THE MOUNTAINEER

EDISON L. BADDAL

Pacmania

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- So down went the poor David Diaz, after absorbing a vicious left punch to the right jaw from Pacman, and he tumbled down to the canvass face down. Later, he rolled over to his side and laid flat on his back to make himself more comfortable as the rowdy crowd roared and cheered wildly at Pacman’s latest thrilling victory.

So another feather is emblazoned in the latter’s cap at the former’s expense and ignominous defeat. The crowd was sort of rejuvenated with the gore which earlier commenced with the series of punches unleashed by Pacman who eventually found his mark and kayoed Diaz to Never-Never land. Backdropped by a roaring jubilation from the crowd, accentuated by gloating shouts and catcalls from the expatriate Filipinos, the scene is becoming all too familiar with every Pacman victory after a hard-fought fight and punctuated by a KO at that.

As expected, gigantic crowds from all walks of life in the Philippines, were no less jubilant with wild rejoicing after the scintillating victory. Local chief executives were judicious and considerate enough to set up giant TV screens in wide gymnasiums to enable anxious constituents to watch the fight live. All eyes were fixed on the antics of the Pacman as the fight unfolded round by round with every vintage punch triggering lusty cheers in the wake of a disastrous typhoon.

In the terminals of the Sulpicio Shipping lines, bereaved families of those who drowned with the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars the height of Typhoon Frank, were provided temporary relief. It also forced out laughter from their inconsolable emotional state when Pacman won by KO. Elsewhere in many parts of the world where migrant Filipinos are based, rowdy and wacky rejoicing was likewise registered with the foreigners among their ranks joining their infectious triumphal shouting.

It is thus that his most recent victory further gave credence to his monicker as a “Mexican conqueror”. This being so as he has vanquished all legendary Mexican fighters one after the other since the time he was introduced into big-time boxing in November,2004. Antonio Barrera was his first knockout victim followed by Eric Morales (sent to the canvass twice), Vargas, Jorge Solis and lately, David Diaz. Oscar Larios and Juan Manuel Marquez were the only ones who stood toe to toe with the Pacman for the whole 12 rounds of their respective fight with the Filipino ring icon while Morales hacked out a unanimous decision over him in the first of their three encounters.

What was intriguing in the fight was the clinical precision that Pacman executed in the master plan for a knockout victory. Nothing to say of the Pacman’s inherent skill as a knockout artist, the execution was no less brilliant as the victor’s camp left no stone unturned in analyzing the mettle of Diaz as a fighter and an erstwhile champion before the fight.

The latter’s stamina, natural fighting skills, strength, vulnerabilities and hidden weaknesses gauged from previous fights were closely scrutinized and given ready counterpoints with particular focus on some of his winning fights. Adding more mystery, however, was the exact prediction of the coach Freddie that a knockout victory will materialize in the ninth round which occurred precisely.

Thus far, Roach proved to all and sundry that his brilliance as a coach is equally matched by his mettle as a cerebral tactician. Meanwhile, Pacman’s dream of making history as the ever first Filipino, and the first Asian as well, to win championships in four divisions have been gloriously achieved. Also, the feat of having achieved the lightweight championship and super featherweight belts in one quarter is a double whammy that will surely be unmatched by any boxer in the years to come.

The latest feat no doubt entrenched Pacman’s place as the best, if not the greatest fighter, not only in the Philippines but in the whole Asian continent. By this time around, he might have already upstaged the legendary Flash Elorde who reigned supreme as the best junior lightweight fighting machine in the decade of the ‘60s. He held the title for seven long years.

On another front, the victory also re-energized the Filipinos at a time when the country’s population continues to reel from uncontrollable jacking up of oil prices with no immediate relief in the offing. This is borne by the continued ratcheting up of oil prices in the world market which inexorably compounds the miseries of the poor.

As if that’s not enough, Typhoon Frank lashed out at the country’s shores in the third week of June and left a swath of destruction in terms of lives, property and infrastructure. The destruction culminated in the horrible sinking of a large passenger ship off the coast of Romblon. In the latest of sea mishap, approximately more than a thousand souls perished.

Expatriate Filipinos, who are undergoing supreme sacrifices just to feed their families back home as well as shore up dollar reserves of the country to enable it to import goods from abroad, were no less revved up and uplifted with the latest KO victory of Pacman. Their morales were no less boosted by the glorious outcome of the fight.

It certainly brought back honor and salvaged a measure of pride for Filipinos. Likewise, it brought dignity to the blemished image of the Filipinos as a nation. It patched up some of the damages inflicted into the integrity of Filipinos after the country has been touted by a foreign research agency lately as the most corrupt country in Asia. This is on top of the country’s tag and being mockingly branded as the basket case of Asia with its snail’s pace of development.

Another indignity ascribed to the country is its tag as a nation of domestic helpers and laborers as cheap and base labor is the foremost export of the country with teachers and other professionals swallowing pride and dignity to work abroad in lowly jobs.

This is aside from the country’s malicious tag as a smuggling capital of Asia as many smugglers are able to slip through the bureaucratic maze in cahoots with depraved government workers. Unfortunately, among the goods that enters the market without payment of customs duties are temperate vegetables which is creating untold suffering to the thousands of farmers in Benguet and Mountain Province.

In fact, it is presumed that if vegetable smuggling won’t be substantially curbed in the next few years, the industry will suffer demise. Other contemptible tags hurled against the country is its being considered a drug trafficking capital of Asia and a source of mail brides and lewd internet videos and other indignities which makes one cringe in humiliation and nausea.

Pacman’s string of victories are no doubt the only sparkle in the life and image of the country right now. The slew of depravities depicted in the psyche of the Filipinos in general is being swept by some degrees with every triumph of Pacman. It then behooves the government to do its utmost to translate every KO victory of Pacman into a KO punch against every negative spectrum of the country’s life which is derailing the development of the country especially the web of corruption.

Another if the sickening dose of indifference among the public and private sectors. It is the government’s call to clean up the bureaucracy of all its negative aspects while the country is in the klieg lights owing to Pacman’s exploits. If all negative features of governance of the country will mutate to something positive for the majority of the people, then the country is worth fighting for by Pacman to go with with Ninoy’s declaration that the Filipino is worth dying for.

Meanwhile, the humility that Pacman manifests with all his ring exploits notwithstanding deserves commendation no less. The simplicity and moral courage reflected in his persona juxtaposed by his steely physical courage is a rarity. Infact, even with the unimaginable wealth and social prestige that he was ushered into due to his megabuck fights is a rarity.

His deep personal conviction in the Almighty is quite unsettling in the face of pride and prejudice displayed by high government officials and scions of rich people. Pacman’s morally encouraging conduct and positive attitudes provide inspiration as well as a beacon of hope for the poor with whom Pacman used to be identified with. At this juncture, Pacman not only brings joy to all but cuts a figure as a hero and model to every poor man. He is an inextuingishable glimmer of hope that every poor man could rise up from his miserable lot. Mabuhay ka Pacman!