"Hindi mo hiningi," but you didn't turn it down

“Hastang jackpota ni Pacquiao. Pagka-swerteha gyud. Mubo’g grado, pero Lt. Colonel,” so surprisingly exclaimed many Filipinos. Actually, it’s no longer “swerte,” but someone possibly of high military rank and “connections” with Malacañang made possible the incredible “high jump” of low EQ Pacquiao from master sergeant to Lt. Colonel.

 No military general could be behind Pacquiao’s lofty military rank anomaly has surfaced, but just wait as no secret remains so secret. It eventually wills out what sub-rosa motive led to the rank flattery. The latter could be right that he did not beg for it. “Hindi ko hiningi,” but he didn’t have the decency to turn it down what was so undeserving of him.

 Could it be a politically well-trenched general, and what priceless “utang na loob” was behind it? It could not be for a chunk of Pacman’s riches as it sounds so cheap. Or, could it be an inseparable “politico” aide-de-camp who is as ubiquitous as Pacman’s corns that he is omnipresent even to stand by the door when Pacman does his toilets? Well, if so, it’s “excusable” because as a gambling czar he must have earned millions in bets in Pacquiao’s fights!

 A local university which cheapened its academic standards by conferring on Pacman a doctor of humanities honoris causa, isn’t excused for its cavalier grant of honors for Pacman’s pro boxing prowess. The latter’s coterie has made that “excuse” to justify Pacman’s “high jump” from sergeant to lieutenant colonel or a series of five military grades or ranks. Assuming that Pacman had taken academic “placement tests” to have supposedly qualified him to higher EQ, or incredibly high IQ, there has never been any info that he made it even as baccalaureate qualifier, considering that his education has not gone beyond the elementary.

 With his present “gratis” commission, Pacman has stepped on the toes of thousands of non-coms and junior military officers. Recalling one’s reserved officers training in early youth, it takes 5 years to get promoted in normal procedure from private to corporal, and to many tiered non-com status. An exception is when a soldier shall have performed “heroism beyond the call of duty.”

 Admittedly, Pacman has earned the highest honors in pro boxing. But whether or not these honors entitle him to “high jumps” in military rank – with no training and experience in the military at all – is another matter altogether.

 In fact, in a TV survey conducted recently by a giant TV-Radio network, 93% of the respondents have thumbed down Pacman’s unexpected commission as Lt. Colonel, no less, and with neither hassle nor any hustle on his part.

 It used to be that college graduates of different orientations who applied for military officer rank had been conferred 1st lieutenant rank. Later, the highest rank was raised to that of Captain, but never to one’s knowledge has the Lt. Colonel rank been conferred on even an active non-com college graduate, or with earned academic profession; much rarer for a non-college graduate.

 It’s easy to put on a well-cut military uniform, or execute a correct and snap hand salute, or march in “mark time” with “knee high” precision under special “coaching”. But it’s another basic requirement to memorize/understand “military courtesy and discipline”; or, the nuances of “military combat and tactics”; or, could the 6-month infantry training be substituted; or, foremost, “military leadership” should define the corps of officers, and for esprit de corps to develop.

One does not fully blame Pacman especially for the boxing belts and all the honors of pro boxing that he has earned and deserved. But “prostituting” the military institution with unjustified “high jump” promotions is another thing. While he, indeed, didn’t ask for it - “hindi ko hiningi” – Pacman would have appeared of greater stature had he turned it down with decent humility.