A pint of a man who fights like a lion, Pacquiao has been called the Filipino people's champion, the national fist, the pride of the Asian race, the single unifying force in Philippines today, etcetera, etcetera.
On Sunday morning, millions of Filipinos stayed home, eyes and ears glued to TV. Thousand others trooped to mall theatres that aired the live coverage of the encounter.
For a day at least, life was peace and bliss for the typically fractious Filipinos. Local TV posted record ratings. The fight drew over 5 million TV households, the highest in all the Philippines TV history. The police reported zero crime rates. Traffic was clear and smooth in the usually congested streets of Manila. Rebels and soldiers put their weapons to rest to watch the fight. Mutinous troops suspended alleged and real plots to mount coups. Rival politicians abstained from vile and venomous prose.
It was, simply, a day for watching The Pacman fight and nothing else besides. The ironies that mark his life are so stark that he is a compelling story. A former bakery boy, Pacquiao, 27, stands to earn about $4 million from the fight, as well as shares from pay-per-view revenues of the Home Box-Office channel. Born in crushing poverty in the backwaters of General Santos City in war-torn Mindanao island, he now harkens Filipinos to unite and live in peace. The chief of staff of the Armed Forces has even proposed to bring Pacquiao to visit soldiers in the frontlines, ostensibly to talk them out of hatching coup plots.
Indeed, more than his enthronement as a celebrity, the fascinating story about this real-life Cinderella Man is his phenomenal rise in influence and affluence. He has become top broker of peace for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. And more than the kitty he will be bringing home from winning his boxing matches, Pacquiao will possibly earn much more as commercial model and endorser of all sorts of products and services.
Everybody loves a champion, man, woman, child, the rich, the poor and all others in between. And there lies what could well turn into the folly that is Pacquiao. More than everybody, politicians and traders love a champion, a winner. The most cock-eyed of the lot know a fantastic sell when they see one. With reason, they know and see Pacquiao as a winner. And there lies what could well be the tragedy of the victor that is Pacquiao.
Filipinos have elevated him to the hall of heroes but to men of commerce and politics, Pacquiao is no more than a poster boy, a product endorser, a mouthpiece, perhaps even a clown. On Sunday at the ring, for instance, The Pacman wore boxers that flaunted the names and logos of all the companies with which he had clinched commercial endorsement contracts two months earlier, or before he could punch his first at Morales in Las Vegas.
On the butt of his white boxers, Pacquiao wore the name of a firm selling car batteries. On his left and right thighs, on the front and back, he brandished the red-yellow-orange flame of a clothing company's logo, the flag of an airline, and all over, the patches of a line of athletic socks, an energy drink, instant coffee, and a Telco's pre-paid card service.
A patch bought its doubtful place of honour on the boxer's shorts for as much as 1.5 million pesos, or about $29,000. One newspaper estimated that the shorts he wore to victory had already earned for Pacquiao no less than 5 million pesos, or about $96,000. In gist, the boxer sold his boxers like he was pitching billboard space to advertisers. One advertiser recounted in jest that it was the boxer himself who offered to emblazon his boxers with product logos and patches. "He even told us that the best buy was the space at the back of his shorts, not in front," according to one advertiser who wanted but could not afford to buy space.
Business, apart from boxing, has occupied The Pacman in recent years. He has launched his own MP (Manny Pacquiao) line of clothing. Apart from building a handsome house for his wife and kids and mother, Pacquiao has opened a retail store and bought a farm for raising fighting cocks. Additionally, he has signed up with a local network to do duties on-cam as host of his weekly sports program, "Manny Pacquiao, Sports Idol."
By all indications, The Pacman is making hay while the sun shines bright on his career. For this, and all his efforts to keep and expand his wealth, he deserves neither rebuke nor ill will. An athlete savours glory and fame and wealth for just the brief fleeting period of their youth.
If he gets into all these deals eyes wide open, well and good. If he does so to make money, well and good for him. But if he does only always with just an eye for money, or only to please politicians and traders, Filipinos should stop ascribing Pacquiao with super hero qualities, and assigning him roles bigger than a boxer could perform. Pacquiao lives and does not qualify as yet to be a hero. Pacquiao continues to live it up as well, and does not qualify as yet to be installed as national symbol. At the very least, too, Pacquiao must stop pretending to be more than what he is. He should quit donning the vest of a vassal of truth, peace, unity, and reconciliation because in fact he is simply a great boxer, a huge celebrity, and a sure-fire product endorser for now, period.
