IDOLIZING THE PACMAN

Better not talk about the bloody carnage at the Coliseum.
Most Filipinos, anyway, saw how local boxing sensation Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao made a literal mincemeat of Mexican two-time world champion Oscar "Chololo" Larios in a savage 12-round massacre with two knockdowns on the 7th and 12th rounds. At the end of the bell, Larios was just jubilant realizing he was still on his feet - that was victory for him.
After all two other Mexican boxing icons in that category, namely, King Barrera and Erick Morales went down in ignominy in the 10th and 11th rounds respectively when they tasted the fist and the fury of the Pacman from Dadiangas. Every sports scribe knows that had Manny wanted to, he could have sent Larios to dreamland in that fight that was so lopsided - it was a David and Goliath fight. Now Barrera and Morales are wetting inside their pants, anxious to death for the time when they deal with Mr. Lethal Puncher sometime in November and next year, respectively.
Gloria M. Arroyo, pleased as punch (we mean the drink, of course?) awarded the highest honor to the Pacman by granting him the Order of Lakandula award. That is well-deserved.
But just what is Pacman to the adoring millions that follow his career like their own zodiac signs? He is many things to them, at the same time.
Rich and famous as he is, everyone can feel that above all, Pacman is fighting for country and flag. Tipong ang mamatay ng dahil sa'yo kind of person. The Great Unwashed relate to him because he looks ordinary, with a slight wayward look in his eyes but with a charismatic smile - without being afflicted with the "star complex."
Like every one else, he has no pretensions of not having feet of clay - child out of wedlock, the court tussles, late nights of booze, girls and gambling - but stops just on time for an important bout. The Pacman is a regular guy - even when he wears those signature outfits, he is never conscious and just walks the talk and no swagger, mama. It's as if those designer get-ups became second skin but do not touch his being.
In the San Miguel Beer ad, when thousands asked him for a drink - it is typical of Manny, spending good time with friends just being happy over small talk and beer. He has not declared himself "The Greatest" as Muhammad Ali did nor as "popular as Jesus Christ" as Beatle John Lennon said. He is simply Pacman - and the best is yet to come.
Filipinos relate to him because he punched himself to boxing superstardom - because "gutom may gasugo" like the great Flash Elorde, the poor bootblack from Bogo Cebu. They belong to the breed who would not let poverty rule their day and bucked the odds to earn megabucks. They relate to the boxer's rags to riches story - telling them a thing or two about the "art of the possible."
Feet of clay or not, atop the ring, Pacquiao makes the sign of the cross much so often and always acknowledge the role of prayers in his conquests. He is not ashamed of his faith - and dependence on the Lord, God bless his soul. Pacman, to the millions, opitomizes what Filipinos are not but what we would like to aspire for. As proponent of the philosophy that the days of the "pwede na yan" or "mamaya na yan" are over, Manny is a different breed of Filipino who will spare no sacrifice to reach his goals.
Vicariously, some Filipinos feel vindicated when the Pacman destroys the good looking, aquiline-nosed mestizos like the Morales and Barreras of the world because he represents revenge over years of oppression from foreign conquistadores. The Pacman made them pay in the ring what we could not do in 400 years of Spain.
Pacquiao is an idol to many in this 70-province archipelago. He represents the modern-day provinciano who no longer feels embarrassed by his rural origins. After flattening all the banana trees in General Santos, he battered all big-time bettors in Las Vegas by destroying Erik Morales, the Spanish god that has never been brought to his knees. He has conquered the world - today perhaps the best fighter in the world, pound for pound.
Manny is a model because unlike great sports heroes of the past who squandered their earnings in an orgy of spending, the next billionaire Pacquiao has invested his earnings in a string of businesses while nailing the most lucrative endorsement deal in the country at any time: exclusive endorser of San Miguel Corporation - from beer to ice cream. Like striking really hard while the iron is hot.
Indeed if the Pacman retains his child-like charisma, pragmatic business acumen and remains an ardent disciple of modern-day boxing warfare - in the scientific sense - he will be a national hero in the hearts of many Filipinos. Indeed already a hero, long before he is buried six feet under the ground.
The Pacman, that's our man!