We join the jubilation of our fellow Filipinos for the convincing win last Sunday of boxing icon and Senator of the Philippine Republic Manny Pacquiao against American challenger Adrien Broner.
Yes, we are certain many were frustrated because the fighting senator’s fans were expecting a knockout win, not just a unanimous decision through the distance. But as far as we are concerned we are already very elated with Manny having clearly dominated Broner in almost, if not all of the 12 rounds.
Why insist on having Manny knocked his enemy down and then put the light out of him when what he needed is only a clear win? After all, showing his mastery over his much younger opponent leaves no doubt that he’s got what it takes to be champion even at 40 years old.
But the Pacquiao fight with Broner last Sunday was not just a revelation of the once General Santos City street habitue’s continued journey to the boxing world’s immortality. It was also a disclosure of the astuteness of some politicians to take advantage of the massive reach of the media doing its coverage.
And we mean the known aspirants for the Senate and the House of Representatives.
These aspirants, we are certain, know that every Pacquiao fight is watched in every household in the country through live radio broadcast, direct pay-per-view television coverage, and even by the delayed coverage of commercial television networks.
So last Sunday the Pacquiao-Broner encounter revealed to the Filipinos who among the aspirants have enough financial reserves to pay for the cost of placing a 30-seconder advertisement on a time slot that is clearly much costly than certain hours during ordinary days of the week.
Among the aspirants whose advertisement exposures during the Pacquiao-Broner fight we lost count of is Dong Mangudadatu who is running for Senator.
But what surprised as most is the inclusion of two Partylist groups among those putting up their advertisements during the Pacquiao-Broner match. One, the Wow Pilipinas Partylist, was announced as a presenter of the fight in part. The Partylist name was inscribed boldly right on the middle of the canvass floor of the ring. Then we also saw and heard several times the advertisement of the Barangay Natin Partylist before, during, and after the boxing match.
Our understanding is that Partylist groups are supposed to provide certain marginalized sectors of the population representation in Congress. So we cannot help but be intrigued at the thought that two supposed disadvantaged groups seeking representation in Congress have so much money to be presenter of the gargantuan boxing event (Wow Pilipinas Partylist) and putting up ad placements during the boxing coverage (in the case of Barangay Natin Partylist).
Maybe it is worthy to ask these questions: “Who are behind these two Partylist groups? Who are their nominees as well as the sectors of the country’s population they want to represent in Congress?”
Frankly, this is clear deception by certain groups as to the motive of their joining politics. This scheme is one that makes a mockery of our election law as well as our very own Constitution. And we wrote about his some columns back. In that previous article we asserted that the reason why it has become too easy for politicians to skirt the law on Partylist system is because the crafters of the enabling law, as well as the framers of the Constitution, are the politicians themselves or their lackeys.
And if they were not they won their seats with the sponsorship of political king makers or of some vested business interest groups.
Now, should we be surprised if the nominees of this and that Partylist groups are sons, daughters of politicians, moneyed businessmen, and professionals? Of course we have groups identified as the usual anti-administration no matter who sits in Malacanang. They are the more consistent among the Partylists seeking representation in Congress.
So, again, who are the people and the sectors that caused the creation of the Wow Pilipinas and Barangay Natin Partylist groups?
Their coming out in a very expensive advertisement vehicle and time slot clearly betrays the status of their sectors and their motive as well.
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