by Leo Reyes
As a little boy who often retires after a hard days work in a dimly lit street corner with an empty stomach, Manny Pacquiao dreamed what every young boy who had experienced extreme poverty, have dreamed about—getting out of it through sheer hard work, dedication and faith in God.
Having been brought up as a religious boy by his mother, Pacquiao’s enduring faith in God served him well as he tried to conquer poverty by mastering his craft as a boxer.
Pacquiao’s dream to get his family out of poverty has been realized and now he is happy with what he’s accomplished.
His triumph over poverty inspired him to dream of one day becoming a world boxing champion and in less than a decade in his craft, he became not just a world champion but a symbol of inspiration for the young dreamers of the world.
Pacquiao’s humility and kindness as a person despite his wealth and soaring popularity remains to this day.
Pacquiao dreamed of helping the poor people he left behind and was convinced the way to do it was for him to join government. His dream came through and he now serves as representative of his province in congress with the blessings of his constituents.
Now he dreams of someday becoming a Governor, Senator and President of his own country.
Some people say there is nothing wrong about dreaming especially if one really puts his hearts out and works hard to realize that dream.
But a certain Pedro Fernandez, reported to be an award-winning writer, TV commentator, radio talk show host, former San Francisco Policeman and four-time Golden Gloves champion, took swipes at the reigning pound-for-pound king for his apparent lack of qualifications to become President of his own country.
In his controversial article on Ringtalk over the weekend, Fernandez lashed at Pacquiao for his lack of knowledge and political acumen to become President.
“Lacking the knowledge or political acumen to be President, much like Reagan and Arnold in their perspective positions, Manny Pacquiao, if he is elected will be a puppet, a front man, a mouth, a face that people can identify with because of his iconic status as a boxer. We as Americans should not call the Filipino people dumb because they elected Manny to Congress, and possibly to the Presidency in 2016, for the United States has elected people to the highest office in the land that if not for a teleprompter, they w …(portions deleted)”
Fernandez seems to be lacking in information about Philippine politics and would be better off not talking about at all. Otherwise it is best for him to read the Philippine constitution first before acting like a knowledgeable person on the subject.
Contrary to Fernandez assertion, Pacquiao is ineligible to run for President in 2016 because he would only be 38 by then. The Philippine constitution provides that a presidential candidate should at least be 40 years old at the time of filing his certificate of candidacy.
Fernandez needs to know also that the Philippine constitution only provides that a presidential candidate should be at least 40 years old, a Filipino citizen by birth, a registered voter, a resident of the Philippines 10 years prior to election and able to read an write.
Clearly, it does not require any presidential candidate to have a college or master’s degree to be eligible for the highest executive position in the land.
It seems Fernandez who claims to be an American but reported to be based in Mexico, has been consistently critical of Pacquiao and his accomplishments outside of boxing.
In one of his columns on Ringtalk early this year and in one of his latest articles on his site, Fernandez had consistently criticized Pacquiao’s involvement in politics, saying he is ill-equip for the position on account of his educational attainment.
Whatever Fernandez’ motivations are for continuously and consistently hitting Pacquiao below the belt, we can only say envy and hatred won’t put a good man down.
17 Comments
Comment by pacfan — October 31, 2011 @
4:18 am
I read that couple hrs back. Fernandez is a hired writer for Fraud boi. Let him live in his dream land alone in his head.
Comment by laughing hyena — October 31, 2011 @
6:35 am
I could only wish the best for the Philippines, and Pacquiao! I am not in favor of Pacquiao running for political office.
Comment by ira — October 31, 2011 @
8:59 am
Hello Leo !
Interesting article . Loaded with abstracts. bestowing the qualities of Manny Pacquiao .
I realize that you are responding to an article written by Pedro Fernandez . I have read this article , so I can only respond to yours .
This is your forum , but this article really does not belong on FightHype . Disney , perhaps , but not Fight Hype .
Personally , I think your guy has made some questionable deciisions outside the ring that makes me wonder how this guy gets elected to public office , and dreams of higher aspirations .
This is a guy who appears to have lost control of his personal finances . Not his spending , butt the apparent lack of accountability of what he earns and how it is being spent .
This is a guy who , while under contract to Top Rank , signed a contract with Golden Boy , a huge no-no , and a portion of every purse goes to Golden Boy because of THAT screw – up ??
I am an American . I do not vote in the Philiipines . Throw in his extra-marital activities , and a guy like this would never get MY vote . Not for Congressman , not for Governor , and certainly not for President .
Yes , they do things differently over in the Philippines . OBVIOUSLY !!
Sick to Boxing – you and Manny . And , screw Fernandez – that;s not a boxing story , ANYWAY .
Comment by ira — October 31, 2011 @
10:27 am
Just read an article by Pedro Fernandez , about Manny Pacquiao .
WHO IS THIS CLOWN ? WHAT IS HIS PROBLEM ??
( This was dated Jan. 4 , 2011 . )
Comment by Leo — October 31, 2011 @
3:38 pm
Thanks Ira, You are one of those who hate Pacquiao’s politics. No problem with that. About a year ago I ran an opinion poll about Pacquiao and his political motivations and majority of the respondents do not want him to mix politics with his boxing for a variety of reasons.
Still the guy wants to continue with his politics as a way of serving his constituents and the people in general.
I am only saying Pacquiao has the right to seek an elective position so long as he complies with the law notwithstanding his lack of formal education.
But this Pedro guy who probably holds a masters or doctoral degree seems to hate people who by reason of poverty, could not pursue a higher education. Obviously Pedro was born with a silver spoon and was lucky not to have experienced what it is to live in poverty.
All of us make mistakes and the guy obviously made one big mistake when he signed up with de la Hoya despite his live contract with Arum. He was obviously ill-advised and he’s paying the consequences of his action.
Comment by ira — October 31, 2011 @
6:08 pm
You know that I am not a fan of Manny’s . However , I can not stand to see any fighter taken advantage of , whether it’s his promoter , manager , trainer ,family , or boxing commission . Unfortunately , there is no universal commissioner for boxing , as it exists in other sports . Once upon a time , I thought the biggest crooks out there were Don King and Jose Suliman . Move over now , and make room for the biggest crook of all time : BOB ARUM .
I read an article where Manny requested an independent accounting firm to audit his financial affairs , not just his boxing revenues . ( Visquest ? ) . After much arm-wrestling , Arum and his boys eventually handed over a box of random and various receipts , contracts missing , and generally very incomplete .
It appears that the only guy to beat the hell out of Manny Pacquiao has been Bob Arum .
There are jails for people like that , and the crime is EMBEZZLEMENT !
Comment by Delpilar — November 1, 2011 @
5:09 am
I don’t know why some people love to discredit personalities without clear basis. I think clear as day performance should be the basis for badmouthing somebody.
Look, who were the promoters when Pacquiao suffered 3 losses in his career? How much did Pacquiao earned during those 3 losses? Who were the promoters that Pacquiao sued? Wasn’t Pacquiao terribly exploited by his own countrymen who ran his career? Why did Pacquiao choose to get rid of them?
Who helped Pacquiao become a megastar in boxing? Arum may not be an angel but clearly he has done a lot for Manny’s career. Who risked his promoter acumen & money in pursuing fights for Manny that so many tried to sabotage by calling for boycotts? Who made the connections that brought Pacquiao into the White House? Who was & who is the promoter who supported Pacquiao’s dream in politics? Did any of his previous local promoter & local manager ever said anything to help Pacquiao realize his political dream?
I’d say I’ll just use PERFORMANCE & ACHIEVEMENT as basis for saying Bob Arum did well for Manny Pacquiao. I think Arum would be as happy as Pacquiao when Manny realizes his ultimate dream.
Comment by tony gonzalez — November 1, 2011 @
6:54 pm
Hi leo, you need to understand manny is no longer just a boxer.He is now a legislator, who will have a great influnece on the new laws that congress will pass and eventually legislate.The core of his character or his being will be the spirit of the law..hence,by his being a good boxer and humanitarian person is not enough for him to be a politician.He can dream, but if he truely understand the meaning of humility and God fearing person, he will just help people by his own simple way.
He already shows that he is capable of making big mistakes…..whats next.Important ones like population explosion.(RH bill)
Manny is no longer boxing for filipino pride….its purely money for him and sad people back home are to naive. Don’t get me wrong.I am a original manny fan… manny the boxer not the leader.Thanks
Comment by Delpilar — November 2, 2011 @
7:35 am
tony g….everybody is capable of committing big mistakes. That’s part of being human.
However, not all humans are capable of great achievements. Of course, even a zero achiever can become a president like what we have now. Nobody has ever crowed about this president’s great achievement because there is none up to now!
I don’t think your example about the RH Bill is a big mistake. Manny is not the only one against unnatural population control. Even Cory Aquino would take the Church side if she’s alive. Now for people who are not Pro-Life and Godless, then it’s easy for them to aspire for genocide of the children of poor people.
I know that the RH Bill is particularly targeting the poor population. If everybody is rich in the Philippines, would anybody propose the RH Bill?
Comment by Leo — November 2, 2011 @
8:39 am
Tony G.,
I’ll say amen to what you’re saying. But give Manny a break … let him dream.
Comment by Romy Evangelista — November 2, 2011 @
12:37 pm
PLS. HAVE MANNY READ THIS!!!
YUP LET HIM DREAM, BUT PLS READ THIS, MIGHT HELP YOU ACHIEVE IT.
Manny deserves everything he’s enjoying right now (“He get what he wants”), he is a very hardworking god-gifted athlete, he rose from a very humble beginning, with kind and determined heart, most of us who see how he attained his dream perceive him a very nice guy outside but ferocious inside the ring. I saw him before, and have nothing to say but good things about him, very friendly and happy guy, and since then I became a very big fan of him, who I considered Michael Jordan of boxing, I really enjoyed watching, never missed a fight since 1990 when my dad is still alive, who is a great fan of him too.
But yesterday afternoon, Nov. 1, 2011, my great admiration for him just diminished dramatically, he is a different person now, as far as I (and most of the people there) believe. My whole family (8 of us) came there yesterday, including my mother-in-law (who is 61) and my youngest son (who is 11), we were all excited that afternoon, when a friend of mine (whom knows one of his staff) told me that a friend of his (who’s brother works in Pacquiao’s shop) will be going their to see Pacman, so I decided to wok half day and told all my family members that we are going to see Pacquaio (whom I saw in person like 9 years ago but my mom-in-law and my son wants to see him badly recently) after picking my kids we drove there, since my friend told me that we have to be there by 4 pm, we skip lunch (w/c we normally do a 3 pm after picking up my kids), I told them we’ll just eat anything when we get to LA. When we get there, security was tight, you cannot go close to wildcard or pacquiao shop ( where the meet-up is usually being done), so we have to wait on the side/entrance of the place, we are not that much, but It was a little bit cold yesterday and you can see these kids (there is this baby, 2 mo. old) and older people being patient waiting to see pacquiao, as one of his staff promise we’ll see pacquiao later but we have to wait outside, which we comply. At 6 pm pacquiao came down finally, went inside his shop, we were hoping that somehow he will accommodate us but like 7 pm, atmosphere became hysterical and we found out that he is leaving. AND THIS WHAT ALL OF THE PEOPLE PATIENTLY WAITING FOR HIM NOTICE, THERE IS NO COMPASSION OR WHATSOEVER FROM HIM, NO WARM APPRECIATION OF US, HE COULD JUST HAVE AT LEAST OPEN HIS WINDOW AND WAVE AT US OR AT LEAST SAY SOMETHING TO PEOPLE, OR AT LEAST DO A GROUP PICTURE TO ALL OF US, LIKE MOST THE PEOPLE THERE BECAME A INSTANT HATER OF HIM. I’M TRYING TO GIVE HIM REASON TO MY FAMILY ESPECIALLY TO SON, THAT PROBABLY HE IS TIRED, OR HE SOME ISSUES OR SOMETHING, OR HE CANNOT GET CLOSE TO PEOPLE BECAUSE HE MIGHT GET SICK, OR HE IS DRIVING HIS NEW FERRARI, BUT DEEP INSIDE I’M HURTING. I REALLY THOUGHT HE WILL ACCOMMODATE US, I THINK THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM ARE NOT DIRECTING HIM TO THE RIGHT DIRECTION, HE HAS A BAD PR TOWARDS FANS. WE GET TO SEE KONZ, HEA IS A ASSHOLE, HE LOOKS AT PEOPLE LIKE SHIT, MANNY SHOULD GET RID OF HIM, ALEX ARIZA IS THE VERY NICE, see link below: (I’m the guy & son on the last part) http://www.youtube.com/user/ESNEWS#p/u/17/n1RQkdZ0XAM
HIS SPARRING PARTNERS ARE NICE TOO.
CONG. PACQUAIO, WE DONT KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR MIND AT THAT TIME, BUT AS AN ADVICE OF FROM AN AVID FAN WHO BUYS YOUR PPV EVERYTIME, HIRE A BETTER PR GUY, SURROUND YOURSELF WITH NICE PEOPLE THAT REALLY CARES FOR YOU AND NOT YOUR MONEY, ALWAYS FIND TIME TO PEOPLE EVEN IN VERY LITTLE WAY, DONT BE SNOBBISH, THAT’S NOT YOU MEN, I KNOW YOU DURING YOUR EARLIER DAYS WITH THE ELORDE’S (YOU SHOULD GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM, IVAN IS A NICE GUY), DO THIS NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE A CELEBRITY OR POLITICIAN (ASPIRING TO BE PRES. SOMEDAY), DO IT BECAUSE THAT HOW A NORMAL AND MORALLY CORRECT INDIVIDUAL SHOULD DO.AS MY SON SAID:
“HE IS NOT A REAL PEOPLE CHAMP, THAT’S NOT TRUE”
JUST IMAGINE MANNY.
IF YOU HAVE PROBLEM WITH THIS, SHOOT ME AN EMAIL.
Comment by Delpilar — November 2, 2011 @
1:49 pm
Pacquiao is killing himself in his training; yet people like Romy thinks he should act like a politician running for office in LA. Remember Pacquiao is a boxer at this moment, not a politician.
You don’t want a real People’s Champ in boxing, Romy, you want somebody else. Just line up where Justin Bieber is rehearsing his song & dance routines, for sure he could wave & smile afterwards. No painful sparring there.
By the way, you’re too young to talk about Elorde, he never had people lining up everyday to see him after his hard training.
Comment by Romy — November 2, 2011 @
6:46 pm
Delpilar, as a normal individual, no matter what you do (especially if you earn millions of $), especially if you are a celebrity, you should show compassion to other people, especially to those people doing those extra mile (waiting 4 hrs in a cold weather) just to see him giving back any little way of showing compassion, we are not asking all his attention or any special treatment.
I know he trains hard, which he always do, those sparring partners train hard too but gave us a very nice gestures, hope they don’t change when they get famous and overflowed by a lot of attention.
I’m sorry Delpilar, but I’m not a Bieber fan, especially after what he did in one of our people in the airport, he is a spoiled brat. But Manny, I know that is not he is. Hope he get back to his old him, very warm to other people.
Regarding Elorde’s, I’m talking about when he was just starting here as boxer, he would stay with Flash grandkids here in US, and I met him there.
Manny, you are the greatest boxer, there will be no question about it, you have touch a lot of people lives, especially in financial help and a lot of people admire that, keep touch our lives just being sincerely nice, that small gestures will make a lot of difference to a lot of people in this world full of trails.
Good luck Manny, Marquez needs to be shut.
Comment by Leo — November 2, 2011 @
9:47 pm
Romy, I think Manny did not know that you and your family wanted to see him. If he did, he would have accommodated your request. Don’t blame him too soon. Find out if there was some kind of communication problem between you and his PR man.
I hope our News Editor will read your comments and relay your message to Manny.
Comment by Romy — November 3, 2011 @
12:00 pm
Leo, I think we have our fault somehow, because we know that day is not “fans day” but of course you know all the people there wants to see him , I mean hoping to see him (actually at least have a photo with him), I know it’s like really a gamble, and we know that, but just see Manny giving us any small way of appreciating being there in a cold weather ( i really feel bad about this family with 2 kids, one is just 2 mos. old, from San Diego, just really drive there to see Pacman), like a very warm bye or smile, a group picture, I don’t know, anything, you know how to make people happy, and Manny knows that, but still I believe that you can’t blame him, with all the people around him, it’s really hard for him to know that he is missing something or somebody and that’s it when his PR dep’t should come-in, keep reminding him. The painful part is when you see those people close to Team Pacquiao, prioritizing people they know among us lining outside, some just came, we really thought that everybody will be accommodated, since we’re not that many (probably less than 30), as one of the old women said “Ay palakasan pala dito” and I told her that just be patient my friend of mine said that we are not that many and we all gonna see Pacquaio. Actually, I know somebody close to Mr. Pacquiao, one of the guy in the shop and one of the Flash Elorde’s grand kid, who happens to be there that afternoon, but I didn’t really push them because, I though everybody will accommodated, I want to be fair, especially with this family from San Diego, who were there before we get there at 4 PM (I think they said they been since 2 PM). I been Cong. Pacquiao fan and I really love him, just to see him fight and give honor to us makes me really proud of him and myself as well as a Filipino, and for me to see in person is just big bonus for me which I don’t really care much, but when my son ask me he really want to see him and get close with him that broke my heart ( and also my mom-in-law who really loves him), he even wants to put mustache before we go there, just to impress Pacman, and when he is see Pacman doing his mitts with Freddie, he will wave like crazy outside. That is why when he left Pacman without any warm gestures that he thought he’ll get, he just said sadly, ” He is not real People Champ, that’s not true”, like the other people commented.
Leo, the reason I chose to put this on your site is that for you guys to realize things that you might overlook some things (have you read this blog by a fan with bad experience with Pacquiao recently), I really love Pacman and I feel sad that people will go against him during the fight ( I know fellow Filipinos wishing or praying for him to lose because of some bad things they know about him), I love to watch the fight when everybody is cheering for him to win, I love that. We were 8 of us that afternoon and I tried to reason out why it happened that way , like 6 of us became an instant hater (actually my bro-in-law is trying too), especially my wife and mom-in-law, you know mother & grandma. So please let Manny knows what is going on, I just want the best for him, we owe him a lot for giving us honor, but try his best to make other people to continually feel proud of him, I know its hard for him this days, but people around him like you should help him to fulfill this. LEO, IT’S EVERYTHING FOR HIM TO GAIN IN ALL ASPECTS, AS AN INDIVIDUAL OR AS A CELEBRITY (FINANCIALLY, SPIRITUALLY & MORALLY), HE IS IN A POSITION THAT HE CAN TOUCH AND MAKE CHANGES TO A LOT OF PEOPLE LIVES JUST BEING NICE TO THEM. PACQUAIO YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION TO A LOT OF PEOPLE.
GOOD LUCK!!!
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