Enough pushing of Manny Pacquiao ‘hope’ pills already!

Ok na sana that Manny Pacquiao won against Brandon Rios. That is of course a cause for celebration for any Pacman fan (which I am). What’s annoying is the way Pinoys extend that victory to give some nebulous basis for some sort of hope to the Typhoon Yolanda victims. Why nga ba? How exactly does Pacquiao’s win change the fortunes of the Yolanda victims? For that matter, how does Pacquiao’s win change the Philippines’ future prospects overall?

Manny-PacquiaoPinoy nga naman talaga. We just have to turn everything into some kind of agimat. It just ruins the whole thing.

I mean, check this out.. In a report on ABS-CBN News, I read that chief of the Philippine Army Lt. General Noel Coballes is proposing that “special military honors” be extended to Pacquiao conferring on him a “reserve lieutenant colonel” rank. WTF?!

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I find it rather baffling that all these relief workers — specially the ones who volunteered their personal time — aren’t insulted by this blatant bullshittery. Here they are sweating it out on the ground, packing relief supplies and all that. Then Pacquiao wins a boxing match, pockets millions of bucks, and then he gets to be an “honorary” officer in the Philippine Army. Where’s the justice there? This “Lt. General” Coballes probably does not have anything better to do with his time.

Then there is Malacanang spokesman Herminio Coloma who, in his congratulations message to Pacquiao said, “Just like Manny, we will triumph over our current problems by working together…” Say what? So let me ask this question: What if Pacquiao had lost? Will Filipinos be described as being “just like Manny” then? I fail to see the logical connect between Pacquiao’s victory and the sudden certainty that Filipinos will suddenly find a long-hidden ability to “work together” and, as a result, “triumph over [their] current problems”.

I don’t know what is worse, having no hope or being given false hope.

At least when one is given no hope, the truly strong will make her own hope. But for those who are given false hope, it will be more like a tragic lifetime of clinging on to a hope that will never materialize.

The one thing that all this Pacquiao fanfare is achieving for Filipinos is that it grants them a temporary high and allows them to foget their problems for a while. If you think about it, that’s sort of what alcohol and drugs does as well, doesn’t it? So why, I might ask, is excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs frowned upon while excessive consumption of Pacquiao meds celebrated?

Hope is not a strategy.

That’s right. Strategies involve sets of tactics that consist of plans which, in turn, consist of steps to be taken. Manny Pacquiao may inspire. But he does not provide the steps each Filipino needs to take to extricate himself from his poverty. When all one is given is a promise of “hope”, the next question one should ask is: Hope in what exactly?

Considering Pacquiao had won so many fights over the years, Filipinos should be the most prosperous people by now if we subscribe to all the BS surrounding the effect of these wins on the Pinoy “spirit”. But what we see today is the opposite. In almost every aspect — even before the Yolanda disaster — olats na ang mga Pinoy. Open your eyes, people. No matter how many times Pacquiao wins, those victories simply do not rub off Pinoys’ fortunes. Wa epek, in short.

It’s just so disturbing to think that this sort of thinking is encouraged even by people who supposedly are the country’s most educated opinion shapers — that some sort of “Filipino spirit” emanates from the achievements of these pro athletes. These manicured idiots should instead encourage the thousands of Filipinos who follow their Twitter accounts or watch their TV shows and movies to find that “spirit” from within themselves and divorce that source from this sort of pagan idolatry that should not have a place in a modern society. Otherwise, they are no better than drug pushers, keeping their masa fans high as kites on a daily dose of showbiz opiates.

Tama na yan.

Showbiz is not real life. Is that fact really so hard to understand?

67 Replies to “Enough pushing of Manny Pacquiao ‘hope’ pills already!”

  1. Tama na yan? Wow. So what do you think must we do to make lives better? It would be an interesting read. I look forward to your next article. You don’t liike hope? What do you want then? Cynicism and sarcasm? Pfffft.

    1. So collective achievements, crying for change, and real pride does not matter to you? And you’re just clinging for a FALSE hope instead? Pfffffffffffffffffttttttttttt. 😛

      1. WinterSoldier I clearly see the message you are trying to relay as well as the article…

        But let me tell you this, SEEING PACQUIAO WIN BOOSTS MORALE! Its not False Hope they are trying to give. Its not like they stopped working and fed off your so called “Pacquiao Meds” as you claimed they would. Reality check…They are working harder than ever knowing Manny won. They are working harder than ever to rebuild themselves again. Filipinos are better than that and you ought to know it. The article utterly lacked basis for its claims and total BS…So cut the crap wannabe activist! The only one who’s supposed to get real is you!

        1. TROLL. 😛

          You’re totally missing the point due to your EMO comments.

          Sir, the only one who is supposed to get real is YOU. Right back at ya. 😀

        2. You keep on missing the point: we’re already an optimistic people and resilient people (as we always say internationally) and gotten too many boost morale messages from previous winnings of Pacquiao (too much inspirations actually) and yet we aren’t really doing anything right and cleverly to make our country a better one. Most of us don’t act and think right for the sake of the country, never really using that “push” of inspiration (and follow in their footsteps to better oneself) from various inspiring winnings of other fellow Filipinos worldwide. We already get tons of boost morale even in the past and yet most of us ain’t still doing things right. You are Christine are both still living under a rock and in denial of what needs to be done by most Filipinos.

          I get what the authors of the articles are saying here, ’cause I got it REAL. You are both still living in UNREALITY. Open your eyes. Please… do get real.

    2. Hope and pride are very different things. Pride is based more on ACHIEVEMENTS. Hope is just the other way around. it’s inspiration.

        1. There’s nothing to be proud of. And you can never be proud of what you can’t ACHIEVE, idiot.

          TROLL. 😀

        2. Tell us something that we don’t know about your achievements so that we could also be “proud to be pinoy”… not!

          Just because some Pinoy won big time internationally you come out screaming and beating your chest to high heavens saying Proud to be Pinoy… that’s a bit arrogant now. I am silently proud of them, yes, but not telling the world I am a Pinoy and proud to be one “because of somebody’s win”.

          Get it? Get REAL!

  2. Get this, pinoy pridists, Pacquiao’s victory is HIS victory, not mine, not yours or anybody else’s, it is HIS alone.

    We are happy he won (am also a fan), and happy for those who he is going to help financially.

    Other than that, …….. wala na.

    His win, does not make any of us special from other nationalities. Get this through your thick skulls.

    1. Well said, man. Well said.

      I know some people who believed that Pacquiao should obligingly share or give his wealth to the people because he has enough for himself and his family. What these people don’t know is Pacquiao has his own financial problems as well, with the people around him leeching him for everything he has.

  3. You clearly are no sports fan nor do you have a full grasp of what a morale victory is. So what do you say about the Boston Red Sox when they won a title and eased the pain of the Boston Marathon bombing? How about the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl title just after Hurricane Katrina?

    Sports victory uplifts people. That’s human nature. No one is saying here that Manny Pacquiao winning will solve this country’s problem. No one in his right mind will. You’re making people appear dumb and soul-crushingly idiotic with the way you argue your idea.

    Plus, Manny Pacquiao winning a boxing match does not drive people to rape their daughters nor massacre their parents just like alcohol and drugs do sometimes.

    Align your comparisons correctly.

      1. To the yellow zombie:
        Get a clue and grow a brain.
        You are not part of the solution since you are clearly a part of the problem.

        Mr. Aquino doesn’t need you if he was really doing his job.

    1. >Sports victory uplifts people.
      So a bunch of people just lost their homes and loved ones to a typhoon, and you want them to be happy for someone winning a boxing match. OK.

      1. yeah what do they expect to happen?

        “OMG Manny won the match i will forget about my hunger for now and be happy. i may be homeless but im proud to be pinoy!”

    1. You clearly are no sports fan nor do you have a full grasp of what a morale victory is. So what do you say about the Boston Red Sox when they won a title and eased the pain of the Boston Marathon bombing? How about the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl title just after Hurricane Katrina?

      Sports victory uplifts people. That’s human nature. No one is saying here that Manny Pacquiao winning will solve this country’s problem. No one in his right mind will. You’re making people appear dumb and soul-crushingly idiotic with the way you argue your idea.

      Plus, Manny Pacquiao winning a boxing match does not drive people to rape their daughters nor massacre their parents just like alcohol and drugs do sometimes.

      Align your comparisons correctly.

  4. sons of shawn kemp your right…the writer of this article simply is sick envy creature a typical filipino crab mentality.his/her statement doesnt define the true Filipino spirit towards clinging on Hope,Faith and Pride. What manny pacquiao proves is that every single filipino can achieve success after every storm in our lives.

    1. @ pride and hope

      And at the end of the day filipinos are still hanging on to hope, faith and pride…. forgetting about real, substantial changes and decisions about life. That is why the Philippines is stuck forever as a 3rd world country.

      As the article said, “hope is not a strategy”. And same goes for faith and pride.

      You can be hopeful and faithful and full of pride, but the bottom line is, your achievements will still be defined from your actions.

      1. What do you expect? Filipinos are losing the war against corruption and poverty. Their strategy fighting those involves hope, faith, and pride. All of it Misplaced.

  5. Tayong mga pinoy ayaw na napupuna, butthurt… Not proud being a Filipino but I am not ashamed. We’re not special/less than any other nationalities.

  6. “.. it grants them a temporary high and allows them to forget their problems for a while. ”

    I don’t think that’s the entire effect of it. To some, it actually grants them an inspiration to withstand the hit and getting back up. To toughen up and endure..

    1. Toughen up and endure, yun na nga e. Typical filipino will just tough it up and endure, that is all they ever do. Like now, after Haiyan, all are saying we will rise up again.

      And again after the next calamity, and the next, and the next, and the next…..

      Filipinos forget that instead of enduring things that come their way, they could in fact do something about it before and during….. not only after to endure it.

  7. Reality really sucks and there is so little we can do about it. What MAnny did was to uplift our morale for a moment. A happy pill every once in a while and what is wrong with that? at least manny makes us smile and you are just being sarcastic. You are like salt on a wound. Manny can be a general of the AFP or a spy for all i care.

    1. Reality sucks….. and yes you can do something about it and not just getting through with a happy pill once in while.

      Now you see what is wrong with that happy pill?

  8. we pinoys were proud on that day, yet we were also proud of jessica sanchez who sang our national anthem, not the anthem of that loud-mouthed arrogant mexican scumbag and his training partner that resigned from pac’s camp.

    the crab mentality is obvious in this article. boxing nga ang nagbibigay buhay sa pinoy ipipilit mo pang hindi?

    1. Pride is based more on ACHIEVEMENTS than accident of birth.

      And also crab mentality does not exist. It’s just your FANTASY. 😛

    2. You say “Crab mentality” is in this article?
      Funny, I think you are referring to yourself although like WinterSoldier said, crab mentality doesn’t exist, therefore YOU shouldn’t exist here.

    3. “boxing nga ang nagbibigay buhay sa pinoy ipipilit mo pang hindi?”

      yun na nga ang problema eh.
      pag walang laban si pacquiao walang buhay ang pinoy.
      oh di kaya pag walang isang pinoy o fil-am na nanalo ng kemerut ek ek walang buhay ang pinoy. pffffttt

  9. Pinoys should just grin and bear it. Pacman is not the answer to their probs. That’s like mentality of my barber who said everyone would become rich when Erap became president. I’m calling BS on this nonsense.

  10. eh ikaw ba na gumawa ng article na ito my naiambag? baka isa sa mga nasa field na yan ay matulungan at natulungan na ni manny. or sineswelduhan ni manny. at anung pakialam mo? pakamatay ka na lng kung ayaw m ng mga nangyayari ngayon.

  11. matanong ko lang anu ba ang naiambag m para sa Pilipinas? lampasan mo muna or kahit tapatan m na lng ang mga naiambag ni manny para sa bayan, wala ka pa sa kuko ni manny. pakamatay ka na lang.

  12. Yan ang isa sa naglalakihang problema ng mga Pinoy, tayu-tayo ay hindi magkasundo. Magaling tayong pumuna ng problema pero wala naman tayong solusyun. Sabi, it is easier to identify a problem but the difference maker is the one that comes up with the solution and action plan. Dapat magkabuklod tayo at ibayong disciplina – isang magandang halimbawa ay and mga Hapon noon panahon ng disaster nila at apektado yung nuclear plant. Bumangon sila at nagpakita ng disiplina sa buong mundo – very good example.

  13. I really wished that the writer here get her facts right before just reacting wildly with frustration…… first – It will not be LTgEN Coballes , Commanding general of the army now who will confer him with a reserve LT. col rank- if you just research it well in the net , you will find out that it was conferred to him more than 5 years ago ….. mukhang ikaw po ata ang WALANG ALAM MAM…..

  14. Pacquiao may be a symbol of hope, hope that Filipinos find inspiration from his hard work and his will to strive to be the better athlete as he is, that we can also do better at what we do and try to win our personal fights may it be work or actual life related. That what we see inside the ring is not what we become proud of, but how he thrives to be the best at what he does and embrace and breath boxing, the way we should embrace and breath our work. He gives hope yes, that from our hardwork and dedication we will also transform ourselves into the best we could be.

  15. Pinoy pride? You voted that cerebrally challenged creature for president and you dare mention Pinoy pride ? That has infinitely more input from the nation than a single Manny punch.

  16. Come on people. Do we really want to be heartless? Can we not appreciate a simple morale victory for the people? You gotta admit this is just too cynical. I am no yellow zombie by any means and I definitely agree with the spirit and intent of this site. But why does representative hope and crying for change have to be mutually exclusive?

    That being said, although it’s good to feel good, we cannot rely on an emotional peak. Lots of homes to build, lots of livelihoods to raise up, lots of cutting the political cr@p so we can get from point A to B. On top of that, real strategic change and pure hard work. Can someone please give us a character makeover!?!?!

    1. A lot of Pacquiao’s wins and devastating storms have passed and yet da pinoys are still ignorant and still clinging with mediocrity. Where’s their inspiration now?

  17. instead of a pr opportunity, manny pacquaio could help the yolanda victims by paying his 2.2 billion tax bill rather than employ accountats/lawyers to try avoiding payment.

    1. The guy supposedly has to keep fighting because he’s got a lot of debts and bills to pay.

      I’m hoping he does settle his tax bill, and clear up his finances so he doesn’t wind up broke like Tyson.

  18. But did they not get happy with it? Yes. And did someone forced them at gunpoint to be happy because of it? No.

    No one instructed them to be filled with joy. Like I said, that’s human nature.

    It’s their decision to be happy with Pacman’s win. You will always be happy for a guy who succeeded regardless if he’s Filipino or not as long as you LIKE that someone.

    It’s just so happens that Filipinos like other Filipinos to win. What’s the big deal about that?

    There’s not one Filipino in the New England Patriots roster last Sunday night but I felt good when they overcame that huge Broncos halftime lead.

    You sound as if it’s a bad thing to have something to smile about despite of being stuck in an unimaginable tragedy. You sound as if this people were not to be afforded to ease the pain a little bit even for a while if they so choose to.

    Yep. That’s the happy pill you people call. The thing that makes your assholes go itchy.

    What’s wrong is taking the happy pill and letting the inspiration you get from it to wallow into nothingness. Filipinos are notoriously guilty of that.

    1. …Furthermore, I, too, was giddy with the Pats comeback. Which is another reason to like your post further by a million times.

    2. Exactly! Why take away the joy and pride that these Filipinos felt when pacquiao won… it wasnt false hope… it is hope… period! it’s a cinderella story… an inspiration… you wouldn’t know if it sparked at least 5 out of 10 people to rise up regardless of their stature right now or whatever numbers it would bring. if you aint helping either… why come up with a negative article… do you think this helps…

      with regards to his taxes… if he is paid in the US… he doesn’t need to pay his taxes in the philippines. and if he does pay his taxs int he philippines… would it do us any better… corrupt politicians will be the one spending it anyways… so why the hell would you give a damn with his taxes… where you the ones getting the blows inside the ring? fight and box every known fighter… and maybe ill consider to read your article once again!

      1. Hello??? does this mean that if the politicians are corrupt, i have the right to be corrupt and not pay my taxes too??? Whoa! where do we live then if we do what he does??? :((

        1. gwen says:
          November 30, 2013 at 4:49 am
          Hello??? does this mean that if the politicians are corrupt, i have the right to be corrupt and not pay my taxes too??? Whoa! where do we live then if we do what he does??? 🙁 (

          She already mentioned that Manny has already paid taxes to the IRS. What’s up with the double taxation?—Also, the requirement that he submit the so-called “original” document, in the form the IRS doesn’t usually provide?

          I’m pretty sure, she was just talking about the motivation…not an exhortation not to pay taxes, but questioning the lopsidedness of the BIR in choosing targets to chase and the accountability of gov’t to taxpayers.

          BS Aquino’s gov’t should chastise their own kind instead of genuinely honest* citizens like Manny. I’m not saying that Manny should ignore it, but exhaust every means to comply even to this request (being careful, however, to stay away from abNoy’s usual political maneuverings.)

          ——————————–
          * There is the devious fake “honesty” of BS AbNoy Aquino, and there is the childlike pure genuine honesty of Manny Pacquiao.

  19. So the only way we Filipinos would strive harder and unite if PacMan wins? But what if he didn’t? Will we resort back to being bitter and hopeless individuals?

    True strength lies in every person – yes, PacMan is an inspiration to many but that does not mean he’s going to solve all of the nation’s problems and we’re just going to sit back and let him do all the work.

    Regardless of Manny’s win/loss, we should still strive – his vistory is HIS victory because he worked for it. Let’s follow his example that by striving hard, we can uplift our own lives.

    Unless you still want to remain in your fantasy land where everything is alright but the reality is harsher than that. Stop with the lame “PINOY PRIDE” chants and strive harder.

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