Pinoy Pride!

That's right. Our hero Manny Pacquiao, by technical knockout, painlessly defeated the Dress Wearing De La Hoya in the 8th round this past Saturday night. Thousands of miles away and about 15 hours later, I was able to watch the fight. We pledged not to open any news tabs the entire day to watch the fight with complete unpredictability and how sweet it was to see a national superman, or shall I say "Pacman", beat the crap out of the Golden Boy, who I thought looked all-show in the De La Hoya vs Pacquiao HBO pre-boxing special. Just because you can afford a lodge at Big Bear to prepare and have your training team wear matching branded t-shirts doesn't mean anything! Pacquiao, on the other hand, humbly trained in an old gym in LA with a head coach who has Parkinsons and bunked with something like 10+ of his friends.

Pacquaio deserves his triumph not only because of his undeniable talent but also because he is a national hero to the Filipinos. Even to Filipino-Americans who have prospered in life yet have seen the struggles of our moms and dads, Pacquiao manages to give us pride and hope for our titos, titas, ates, kuyas, and "boys" abroad.

The Philippines enjoyed their liberation in 1946; this is an independence that has existed only 62 years! After 400 years of Spanish colonization, Japanese occupancy during much of WWII, and about 10 years of an American commonwealth, it was national heroes such as Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio who Filipinos adhered to. Unfortunately political turmoil led to a dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and a declaration of martial law, which has resulted in a country suffering from violence, corruption, poverty, and diminishing economy.

Today, Manny Pacquiao is the new liberation. He is the answer to the depressions Filipinos face. He represents the strength of the people and their battles to be won. Pacquiao has helped bring attention back to the Philippines giving us a sense of pride aside from our infamous adobo, San Miguel, and expatriat/part-pinoy celebrities such as Enrique Iglesias, J-Lo's ex-hub Cris Judd, Dante Basco (Rufio from the movie Hook), Tia Carrere (sphincter says what?), Lou Diamond Philips, Phoebe Cates, Rob Schneider, and Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat Dolls. Pacquiao is the full Filipino monty, however, 100% straight from the PI Islands. You get this in his admirable tongue and the fact he prays and signals the Trinity every 5 minutes.

As Barack Obama does for African-Americans, Manny Pacquiao inspires hope to every citizen despite any negativity that surrounds them on a racial as well as national level. And like America, the Filipino people are not synonymous to their politics. Manny personifies the struggles in each one of us and exhibits that hard work pays off. Whether he is physically small (originally weighing in at 106), uneducated, or just a one-hit wonder, Manny continues to fight and achieve success - the same happy ending and dream Filipinos incessantly seek.



He's done this all without forgetting where he came from, a trait admirable to what I think is important to any minority or second generation immigrant. Like all Filipinos, he sings karaoke whenever he gets the chance and surrounds himself with his "pares". He also gives back to the people in monetary contributions, food donations, charities, community service, and has even personally appeared on the streets to hand out giveaways.

Pacquiao is the symbol of what has been lacking in sports for awhile. Someone who came from the bottom and rose to the top. Uncomparable but most definitely akin to Muhammad Ali, I'd also like to think of Pacquiao as a Thrilla in Manila as he's created such an impact to his country and other places in the world. In America his name is becoming, if not already, a common household name.

My dad emailed me with the simple text, "We should be proud of our kababayan. I did not expect the fight to go like that. Pacman out boxed and outsmarted the golden boy." ("kababayan" meaning to belong to the same bayan, town, or province; on a larger scale, it refers to the country, of being fellow countrymen.) This is coming from someone who has been living in the States almost more of his life than his native home.

We identify with Pacquiao. He gives us optimism and inspiration and shows we won't give up up a fight without that left jab. He is a fast and strong fighter yet smiles like a little boy who just found out dinner is at Jollibee.

I would LOVE to see him fight Hatton next. For all the frustrations I've tolerated in this toothless country, I fancy to see Pacman knock out the overly-confident, Manchesterian speech-impediment-stricken rumbler. Until then, I will enjoy Pacquiao's victory! Hip-hip-horrahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!