Sunday, November 23, 2008

But For What My Dear Manny, Another Glory?


The caption reads:

Spread the Faith
Voice Out a Prayer for Manny here.

I say:

Spare the Almighty from the national pastime. There is no glory when money passes hands from the crooked to the corrupt because of the man wearing boxing gloves above. There is no real victory in a match whose very thought was engineered with wads of cash in mind. There is no pride when half of the spectators around the ring are oblivious to the fact that the champ whose arms were outstretched above hails from a nation of dazed people with a missing soul that it continues to seek...

... always in wrong places.

How can there be glory when the "Pambansang Kamao" lets his fame be exploited by capitalists dogs, too eager to harvest his name for profit gain? How can there be unity when a selected few can watch the game in the comforts of their home, or theater through pay-per-view live satellite feeds from Vegas while the rest fight for space inside cramped indoor basketball courts, or spend hours waiting for the results in a super-delayed telecast courtesy of local, heavily advertised telecast? How can there be thrill when the Pambansang Kamao trade jabs with his Latino opponent while halfway across the planet, a drunken porky man trade uppercuts with his bone-skinned wife over a scrap of meat for lunch while the same pound by pound match glazes the TV screen?

Spread the faith, the ad said. But where is faith in a government that spins the truth from its people? Where is faith in a society that performs cheap circus tricks - like rolling on the floor on a noontime show for a dole out of 5 thousand pesos from the host - in full horror of the nation? Where is faith, when those who claim to have one are the most morally dredged of society - like the naked man kneeling above. I find no hero in someone associated with the worst devils of the country. I will never forget how he ran for office believing that his fame will easily lead him there.

As for my faith with this brand:


I'd find salvation in something else, any other brand than this.

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