The gospel according to Pacman

I wish Pacquiao would stop fighting.  This month, he’s in the thick of training for his November match.  I hope he decides to hang up his boxing gloves after that, while he’s still strong and sane.  I don’t want him to be like Muhammad Ali who fought all his life until he was half dead.  Couldn’t be anything else anymore—except as a warning signal to boxers who don’t know when to stop.  I want people to remember this Pinoy champ as a sound mind in a healthy body, not as a vegetable in a wheelchair.  Especially since he keeps on saying he wants to serve his people.  If he’s sincere about that then he should stop getting his head punched inside the ring—for how can he care as a good public servant when he himself needs a caregiver?  People may think we have a lot of zombies in the Congress but that’s no excuse.  Pacman is not yet a zombie so somebody should tell him to stop before he becomes one. 

What’s that to me?  Pacquiao may not even remember me so why should I care?  I didn’t care eleven years ago, before I met him in October 2002, in Davao city.  I didn’t even care to meet him because I don’t like boxing—bloody inhuman sport!—but a friend of his friend persuaded me a world champion would make a good story anytime.  So I accommodated his spiel and agreed to interview Pacquiao.  But my agenda consisted only of dissecting his soul—his pictures wearing a rosary around his neck intrigued me.  Since that meeting I’ve been a Pacman watcher although I don’t watch his fights.

During our meeting he impressed me as a good man as he disclosed a lot about training for a fight, and incidentally, about his soul.  He was such a guileless soul and maintained eye contact the whole time we were talking.  When I asked him about the rosary, he said he should have faith and trust in God.  “Una iyan.  Tiwala sa kanya, at saka pananalig.  Kung wala Siya, wala rin ako… Hindi biro ang boksing.  Hindi mo alam kung ano ang naghihintay sa iyo pag-akyat mo sa ring… baka mamatay ka na o malumpo, walang nakakaalam niyan. Baka ibaba ka nang gulay o bangkay.  Dapat, sa Diyos ka umasa at magtiwala… tapos sabayan mo ng disiplina sa sarili.”

Of death, he is not afraid, he said. “Malaki ang tiwala ko sa Diyos, wala akong kinatatakutan.  Natatakot lang ako pag may kasalanan ako.  I practise, discipline myself,  and pray hard because I want to win to make my countrymen happy.  Masaya ako kapag napapasaya ko ang kababayan ko, pero alam kong hindi ko kaya yan mag-isa, kailangan ko ang Diyos.” 

Discipline for Pacman means an almost ascetic lifestyle two or three months before a fight.  His diet must be:  “Vegetables, fruits, fish, palagi kong ulam yan.  Six eggwhites a day for protein.  Bihira akong kumain ng karne, at kung kakain ako noon, kailangan alisin ang taba bago iluto.  Pati gatas, low-fat or skimmed.”  His marital duties are suspended: “Walang siping-siping, nakakapanghina yon eh, naiintindihan ni Jinky yan, para naman sa pamilya ko ang ginagawa ko.” His night life must be zero:  “Walang puyat-puyat, walang gimmick.  Tulog na ako by 8 or 9 PM, gising ng 5, run for one hour.  At 1PM, practice.  Sinusunod ko lang advice ng doctor ko, siya ang nakakaalam, hindi ako nandadaya. Bale wala ang advice ng expert kung wala kang self-discipline.  Kahit na may bantay ka, kung hindi ka marunong mag-control ng sarili mo, bale wala lahat.”

What also struck me was Pacquiao’s deep desire to help his kababayans by supporting sports—he spoke of the Manny Pacquiao Sports Foundation that built a sports complex and runs programs to train young athletes, “atsaka tumutulong doon sa pamilya ng mga nalaos nang boxers tulad ni Navarrete. Gusto ko lang tumulong, ayoko masabi ng tao pagka-retire ko na ‘Ganon lang?  Nagpayaman lang?’  I pray to have the strength to continue being the best until I retire.  I want to be able to continue helping even when I am retired.  That may not be very far away... You have to be realistic.  Walang nagtatagal na boksingero; pagdating mo ng trenta, tapos ka na.”

He was 24 then; he is turning 35 next December.  When he turned 30 I—recalling what he said 11 years ago— thought he would retire but he did not.  At 31, 32, 33, 34—he was still fighting, in spite of his mother’s pleas.  I understand how Mommy Dionisia feels, and in solidarity with her, a total stranger to me, I do pray that Manny quits while he’s on top.  With his amazing track record, his stunning victories, his enviable earning power—what more does he want?  If he wants to continue in public service he should conserve his energy.  But for me, he need not be in politics in order to serve.  He can make his foundations work without depending on the pork barrel or collaborating with a Napoles.  He has billions which he has honestly earned, risking his life each time he fights—something nobody else in Congress can claim. 

He no longer wears a rosary but I still believe Pacquiao is as God-fearing as he was when we met over a decade back.  I do pray for him to remain as faithful as before, and be spared from anyone who uses him in any way, especially those who never want him to stop because they make money out of his fights; they are the leeches who live off his blood.  I do not know what awaits the Pambansang Kamao in November’s fight but I am sure his faith in God will always make him a winner.  I write this remembering The Gospel According to Pacquiao: “Una …tiwala sa kanya, at saka pananalig.  Kung wala Siya, wala rin ako… Hindi biro ang boksing... Wala akong kinatatakutan.  Natatakot lang ako kapag may kasalanan ako.”