Shame after Yolly

The PacMan-Rios fight is this Sunday yet, but punches and kicks literally and figuratively, were already thrown.  Late morning last Wednesday, Team Pacman came inside the gym at the Macau hotel for their 11am workout schedule.  Team Rios were still there and Freddie Roach approached Robert Garcia asking them to leave.  Garcia, the reigning trainer of the year, asked for a little time as Brandon Rios came in a bit late because of media commitments.

Roach insisted and heated words were exchanged, with both camps calling each other POS.  Alex Ariza, the PacMan’s former strength and conditioning coach and now with Team Rios, came into the mix and told Roach to “get the F--- out of the gym”.  It will be recalled that Roach and Ariza had a bitter lovers’ quarrel that led to the latter’s defection to the opposite camp.  Roach then replied, “make me get out” and that was when Ariza let go of a Jet Li kick to the chest of Freddie. 

Hotel security had to be called, both parties restrained.  PacMan and Rios, thankfully were not involved in the drama with both fighters making light of the incident.  As they say, that’s entertainment. 

Never in the years that I had loosely followed the PacMan have I heard any trash talk from him, and I admire him for this.  What he said when interviewed about the incident speaks well of the gentleman from Sarangani.  “Let everybody finish in the ring.  No trash talking before the fight.”  And I do hope, as majority of Filipinos do, that PacMan finishes this fight victorious.

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“Mr. President, you talked about moral responsibility from the world.  Let me ask you about responsibility as president.  Clearly, I don’t know whether you agree, but the way you responded and your government responds to this terrible devastation will probably define your presidency.  Many have talked about how much reform you have done, how much work you’ve done on corruption.  But many people might end up judging you now on how your government has responded.  What do you say to that?”

This was the question Christianne Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent asked the president of this battered republic during a one-on-one interview a few days after Yolanda wreaked havoc.  The question was never answered.  The reply was completely off target, it was barer than his head. 

As usual, blame was the name of the game, this time the hapless LGUs.  Presidential butt-lickers with imbecilic pronouncements say protocol dictates that the national government comes in three days after disastrous events.  So freaking right.  Yolanda/Haiyan was a different case.  Even the local governments were blown and swept away by the world’s most powerful storm on record, three times more powerful than Hurricane Katrina which hit the US several years ago.  Logic dictates the national government should act on this matter immediately after the devastation, with all the logistics, no matter how limited, at the head of state’s quick disposal.

Whatever happened to his bold declaration saying 32 Air Force planes, 20 Navy vessels and relief packages are ready?  More like a bald statement.  Yeah, there were more than 52 air and sea crafts but it belonged to the US, Britain, Australia, Germany, Israel and our Asian neighbors.  As I write this, the national government still has to be felt in Northern Cebu, Iloilo, Capiz and Aklan.  And is the country of Israel nearer to Bogo City than Malacanang?

My wife’s uncle, based in the US West Coast, called up two days ago and he wanted to verify footages on their local TV stations about relief packages color-coded to someone’s political affiliation complete with ribbons, including slippers identified with a famous (in her own mind) female broadcaster.  And we still ask why DSWD insists donations must go thru them.  Without the outpouring of support and concern from individuals and the private sector, many more could have died because foreign aid are hoarded by agencies who are supposed to take care of the welfare of those affected.

And how come a cabinet member is relocating in a devastated Eastern Visayas city?  Considering that the local chief executive of that city has a different color combination, this cabinet member bullies his way around.  He wants the whole affected region to remember him and will stay there as long as he can for a very obvious reason.  Conrado de Quiros said it best, in his Inquirer column ‘There’s the Rub’ last November 19.  Yes, let’s “Get him out of there.”

This I say again.  The father said, “The Filipino is worth dying for.”  The son is saying, “The Filipino is worth lying for.”  Even the death toll is sanitized to please the sorry excuse we have as a leader.  At least I did not vote for him.  Shame.  Shame.  Shame.

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