Impulses
Pacquiao, a legislator?
"Are we really that foolish that we are about to choose a boxer, who hasn't even stepped into college, than a well-principled lawyer for congressman in this coming polls? Are we that desperate enough to believe that the former will perform better as a policymaker than the latter?"
It wouldn't be prudent naming the man who made the above piercing query but he is, understandably, an Ateneo de Manila University scholar.
Imagine this: Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao going into the august halls of Congress wearing his No Fear shirt and preparing his speech while approaching the podium. He then say, "Yur, hunur. I hab loyir hir to spik mi. Ip yu hab sam kwestyuns, lit anser et on behap ob, anu to, mayn pala.." Then, in a show of vote for a law on tax increase, he will ask his lawyer, "Wat I du? Wat es et ul abawt? Wat es EVAT? Saan ang entirpritir ku?"
This is ridiculous.
Being a congressman is no joke. The heart to serve is not enough. It needs preparation. It needs facility of the language, not just in English, but also in legal parlance. It needs a lot of dead-on critical thinking. It needs sound political principle. It needs proper understanding of the law. It needs maturity. It needs brain, not boxing gloves. It needs logic, not power punches. It needs lawmaking sense, not boxing sense.
Does The People's Champion have what it takes to be a lawmaker?
The answer is obvious.
Sad to say, he will likely win anyway if he pursues his proud, misplaced ambition.
We all have the right to vote, but are the people too lost in space now to even think of voting a paper-milled high school graduate they see in TV everyday over a proven and a no-holds-barred lawyer like the present General Santos City solon Darlene Custodio?
He never even did high school. This Pacman we admire as a world-class sportsman just passed an average one-shot high school student test. Surely, the result isn't conclusive enough of his aptitude. Surely, if given a change, he still can't even beat regular students in solving basic algebra problems or putting into use simple science tricks. How much more enumerate and define the functions of a member of the Lower House?
And to think that all he did was to throw punches, get his eyes cut and win title fights, this man who is also into cockfighting and billiards (and even a basketball team that had only won once in seven games in the NBC), believes that he is ready enough to face the compañeros and the compañeras in the Batasan halls.
People flock at him wherever he goes. Yes, he is popular for he is the world's best pound-for-pound slugger. But can that give him enough mental facility to make laws? What will he do amid the ever-daggering verbal exchanges and well-researched argumentations that heat up among solons in the floors of Congress on a daily basis? Surely, he'd lose all of the 135 pounds he has left in him before he could gather enough courage to blurt a single sensible word.
His robot sounding English is not enough. Even his money is not enough to give GenSan the right representation in Congress. He needs preparation—not jogging or jumping rope exercises, but intellectual and legal workouts. And this takes years to master.
Jumping into the dirty fence of politics is a bad choice for Manny who has been loved by Filipinos, regardless of age, race and creed, as a boxer. Pacman running for public office may be an acceptable proposition if it is only for local executive posts—but not as candidate for congressman, never for being a legislator, by no means for being a creator of laws.
Point is every person has a calling. He has already proved to be the best boxer in his division. He has already served his country that way. What more does he want in politics?
Boxing is this boxing icon's calling. Therefore, it is gravely an abomination to self if one pretends to be somebody that he is not or, better yet, he cannot.
We have already enough clowns in Congress. One more addition will be enough to start a political circus.
Power is infectious. It even corrupts. Hence, Manny must know how to set his boundaries when there is still time to.
Boxing is one thing and legislation is another. If Manny still can't see the logic, then we rest our case and just let history be the judge.
(Engr. Herman M. Lagon may be reached through h_lagon@yahoo.com.)