Notes from the North

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

Honestly, I quaked in my boots when Manny Pacquiao started mouthing anti-RH Bill statements like the proposed law being a violation of the divine command to go and multiply and that corruption and not population is the cause of poverty in the country and other such nonsense.

The day before his fight with Shane Mosley, a Facebook friend who is one of the most visible pro-RH Bill advocates in the social networking site,  made the novel suggestion that we should not give up on Pacquiao but instead try to convince  him that to win his fight against poverty, he should support the RH Bill instead of oppose it. I was very skeptical but afterwards I told myself why not. The reason for my change of mind was the awareness that as a boxer, Pacquiao is a very reasonable man so there is the possibility that if properly briefed on the merits of the RH Bill, he will see the light. So I suggested to the friend that we appeal to the boxer-legislator’s reason by giving him data which proves there indeed is a compelling reason to pass the legislation. One data that should be submitted to the congressman-boxer is the comparison of  the incidence of poverty between small families and large families in Sarangani.

To answer Pacquiao’s argument that had his parents used condoms, he would not have come into existence, I suggested to the Facebook friend that we also show him statistics on  how many of the No. 4 child of poor families in Sarangani have been able to escape from poverty like he has as against the number of those who have not. The purpose is to make it clear to the boxer-congressman that his case is not really that  common and that the more children a poor family has, the lesser their chances of  graduating to a higher economic  status.  

But when he got back home and reiterated his position during the thanksgiving mass at the Quiapo Church, I knew that the idea of the Facebook friend was like asking for the moon.  He might be very reasonable when it comes to the purpose of  besting another boxer but when it comes to things that touches on his religious beliefs, his reason fails him. My impression was not helped by the fact that on his way to the plenary debates in Congress on May 17, he had lunch  with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

What  sort of dispelled my gloomy thoughts was Senator Miriam Santiago when at around this point, she all but declared that the boxer was out of his depths in the legislative ocean  and should therefore stay off the RH Bill issue. 

And more so when  the CBCP, who would not lose a second to lash back  at any statement or action adverse to their position, kept mum on the tirade of Santiago against Pacquiao. I was thrilled by the observation that the belligerent CBCP does not want to  mess up with the feisty and articulate RH Bill proponent.  Worthy of note here  is that they gang up on President Benigno Aquino, Jr. at every remark he makes in favor of the RH Bill but do not want to cross swords with Santiago. I told myself that  we now have an answer to the CBCP.

But what  totally banished my fear of Pacquaio as an anti-RH force was his execrable performance in his interpellation of Congressman Edcel Lagman. For those who admire him for all his stellar accomplishments as a boxer, it was painful to watch him essay a performance that was the exact opposite of his brilliance in the ring. I am sure many of even his most avid fans cringed as he read from his script and could not fashion his own follow-up questions, unlike atop the ring when his punches come in combinations. He  repeated questions that were already  answered the day before, showing to all and sundry that he was not following the proceedings, and made a citation sans complete research which bared  to the world he takes boxing more seriously than his legislative work. He opened up the mismatch with the naïve question why Congress should not just pass a law to solve poverty instead of  spending its time on the divisive RH Bill.  Had Lagman been as unkind to opponents  as the RC bishops are to supporters of the RH Bill, Pacquiao would  have been beaten black and blue so that he regretted the inclusion of his name in the list of interpellators..

He was such a colossal letdown regardless of what his fellow anti-RH Bill congressman say about his performance that I will not be surprised if the CBCP and other anti-RH Bill advocates will now distance themselves from him.

Actually, if they know what is good for them, they should just drop Pacquaio as an indorser like a hot potato. The more he opens his mouth with the intention of  articulating the anti-RH Bill position, the more his unfitness for the role  becomes apparent and as a result, he will end up turning away even his own fans instead of convincing them to join the resistance to the bill.  And does the CBCP think the damaging information that his wife Jinky admitted using pills is lost on the masses? Do the bishops think Filipinos forget things like that  specially so  in this case when  Pacquiao did not give a convincing answer when the media asked him about the matter?   The possibility that the legions of admirers of Pacquaio will resent the CBCP’s selfish action of shoving the boxing hero into the jaws of  a lion is also there. Because whether they admit it or not, Pacquiao wading into RH Bill issue is like a welterweight boxer trying to campaign in the heavyweight division.

What I am trying to say is that the presence of Pacquaio on the other side  enhances instead of lessens the chances of the RH Bill  getting finally enacted.   He is a windfall to the pro-RH Bill movement and more so when he opens his mouth. 

Wait until Floyd Mayweather hears how Pacquiao made a fool of himself  in Congress yesterday. He will have more unflattering things to say against our boxing hero and  unlike in the steroid accusations, the latter cannot take him to court because the  cutting observations will not be entirely way off mark.