Backing up our very own

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The Philippines’ boxing icon, its acknowledged “Pambansang Kamao” or National Fist, is arriving in the country today, after his devastating loss to his ring nemesis in Las Vegas, Nevada last Saturday.

This will be a different homecoming from all his previous ones, where he was welcomed as a returning hero after defeating some of the most famous boxers in the world. In all those ring encounters, Emmanuel Pacquiao collected a total of eight championships in as many weight levels in the sport, a feat no other pugilist in the world has attained.

But this is the first time he is coming home after a crushing loss, and one that none of us, much less he himself, had expected. As reports after the fight had disclosed, he had been leading in all the scorecards of the judges, and was well on his way to again winning this one – until that unexpected blow.

Well, as Pacquiao himself had philosophized to his grieving admirers – this is what boxing is about, you do lose some even if you have won many. In defeat, as he had been in victory, Manny Pacquiao has remained a sportsman, with no recriminations or resorts to what-might-have-beens.

As he comes home today, his countrymen are preparing to meet and greet him with the same enthusiasm and welcome that they had accorded him in all his past arrivals. And, as the bromide says, “Dapat lang”, or “It is only proper”. Despite what happened, nothing can take away the honors that Pacquiao had brought to our country, with his accomplishments in the ring. He had not only won all those championship belts from some of the world’s top fighters, he had also earned the accolade for the best pound-for-pound fighter several times from the most prestigious fight organizations. His reputation had been such that he had even become a tourism icon as well, because his name had become a byword for a Philippine visit.

So let us welcome him back with the pride and honor we had always given him. Especially in Bacolod, which had taken him into its bosom long before he had won all those distinctions, and for which he has always been grateful, let us assure him that he is still our idol, and a beloved adopted son.*