2 helpful cops / Partymates hit Pacquio as he goes for kill

 BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

 LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – I would like to start this piece by saying thanks to two police officers who helped me fix my vehicle tire when it got flat due to a sharp object that pierced it last week as it was getting dark.
    I came to know later they were officers Fritzlee Lapugan and Joemar Palasico based at the Police Regional Office in Camp Dangwa. (I hope I got their names right).
    They changed the tire using their jack but the spare was also out of air so they called another cop to get a taxi so the tire could be brought to a gas station to be pumped with air. Goes to show there are still good cops around. 
   ***
Boxing superstar Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquio is being hit by his partymates even as he is preparing for his megabuck boxing bout with WBA, IBF champ Errol Spence Jr.
    The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan's (PDP-Laban) national council on Wednesday urged Pacquiao to resign as president of the party because of his recent statement saying President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration is corrupt – more corrupt than previous administrations.
    Duterte is the chairman of the ruling party.
    "We, leaders and members of PDP Laban call on Senator Emmanuel 'Manny' Pacquiao to resign and leave the party in light of his recent actuations unbecoming of a good and true party member," the PDP-Laban's national council and senior members said in a statement.
    The group said Pacquiao's behavior "is clearly driven by his political ambition and is solely designed to gain publicity at the expense of our Party Chairman, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and his administration."
    "PDP Laban remains in unity and accord with our Party Chairman. It is time for Senator Pacquiao to resign and leave the party," it added.
    The call for Pacquiao's resignation as PDP-Laban acting president comes ahead of the party's holding of an election on July 17.
    PDP-Laban Secretary General Melvin Matibag refused to confirm to media if the party will replace Pacquiao.
    Sen. Franklin Drilon on Wednesday said it is possible Pacquiao would be replaced as party president.
    Matibag said he does not want to preempt what will happen during the assembly, but he gave assurances that there will be a fair process in the removal of its members.
    "It is better that we have a national assembly so we decide on the leadership," he added. Drilon said the squabbles could split the party.
    "It is not very often that you hear the family of the founder of PDP-Laban, Senator [Aquilino 'Koko'] Pimentel [3rd] saying the PDP-Laban will implode," Drilon said.
    It was Pimentel's father, the late senator Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr. who formed PDP in 1982.
    Pimentel on Tuesday said he believes that there are some party members "whose 'heart/loyalty' belongs to some other existing political party just waiting for and wanting PDP-Laban to implode."
    "I am not surprised at this statement [of Pimentel] because, as we talk, there is already a PDP-Laban 1 and PDP-Laban 2. PDP-Laban 1, I'd like to think, is the original PDP-Laban formed by my good friend, the late senator Nene Pimentel," Drilon said.
    "The other is headed by [Energy] Secretary [Alfonso] Cusi. I would not be surprised if Senator Pacquiao wakes up one morning in July and he is no longer the president or the acting president of PDP-Laban," the senator added.
    Drilon said the row will have "serious implications in the 2022 elections."
    Meanwhile, Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said the tiff should be resolved within their organization.
    "Issues between the President and Senator Pacquiao are better resolved within the party while their common friends and party mates should not waste time to bridge the gap if they can," he added.
    This, as commentators are saying the tiff between President Duterte and Pacquiao will benefit the country.      
   ***
    Pacquiao stands to become a four-belt welterweight holder by the time the mushroom cloud dissipates on August 21 in Las Vegas.
    Wire reports said this is because aside from Errol Spence’s World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) straps, also expected to be on the line at T-Mobile Arena are Pacquiao’s soon-to-be-reinstalled World Boxing Association (WBA) and even The Ring magazine’s titles.
    Reports said upon Pacquiao’s arrival in Los Angeles, a bigwig from the Venezuela-based WBA paid homage to the Filipino eight-division champion Monday, a sign that the governing body will soon give back its version of the 147-lb crown to the rightful owner.
    Last January, the WBA took the title away from Pacquiao owing to inactivity.
Not even the explanation that Pacquiao was unable to fight because of the coronavirus pandemic could convince the WBA big bosses.
    But realizing the magnitude of the Pacquiao-Spence slugfest, the WBA decided to vote on the title’s fate anytime soon.
Reports said Sean Gibbons, head of the Pacquiao-owned MP Promotions, confirmed The Ring belt could also be on the line in what ringsiders have labeled as a slam-bang all-southpaw showdown.
    The high-ranking WBA who reportedly came by to welcome Pacquiao back in America was Jose Oliver Gomez of Panama, who serves as the Special Assistant and Advisor to WBA president Gilberto Mendoza.
    Gomez is also a member of the WBA’s Board of Directors and had acted as fight supervisor when Pacquiao fought Juan Manuel Marquez in May 2004 and Keith Thurman in July 2019.
    Pacquiao, 42, will be returning to the ring for the first time in over two years.
    Spence, younger by more than ten years, was last seen in active mode last December when he beat Danny Garcia.
    Because of his sheer advantage in age, physical attributes and Pacquiao’s inactivity, oddsmakers have put Spence as a big betting favorite at -450 ($450 wins $100).
    Pacquiao, in contrast, is an underdog at +350 ($100 win $350).
    Pacquiao, meanwhile, reported for the first time at the Wild Card on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) after enduring a long trip that saw their plane making a medical emergency at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport before heading back to Manila.
    The boxing champ immediately started work which reportedly impressed his trainer Freddie Roach. 
Win or lose, he will be fighting another battle with his party mates when he returns home.