Mongaya: Pacquiao show

“SCRIPTED,” a friend texted me halfway through the Manny-Clottey fight. I could not blame him. Joshua Clottey showed his vaunted firepower only a few times. The Ghanaian champion merely held up both his hands to protect his upper body and face during most of the 12-round fight. Meanwhile, Manny Pacquiao practically threw everything at him.

In fairness to Clottey, his few combinations connected. We who were packed tight inside Ryan’s Kan-anan at the South Coastal Road in Talisay City could clearly see the swelling below the Pacman’s right eye. The challenger also withstood the Filipino fighter’s powerful blows until the end of the 12th round.

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Clottey’s corner kept telling him he would lose if he did not throw punches, which he did a few times. He had the power and the reach. Unfortunately, he could not match Pacquiao’s speed. I think he only found few openings as Pacquiao moved around him.

We could not see clearly how hurt Clottey was, but we did notice the cotton turning red when his trainer wiped the boxer’s face with it.

Thanks to friends in Facebook, I would not have gotten wind of the live broadcast of the Pacquiao-Clottey fight yesterday morning through the Internet. My only problem was my broadband connection. But I could monitor the undercards before transferring to our favorite eatery at the south coastal road for the more exciting view with other excited Pacman fans.

As usual, the roads were practically deserted during the fight.

A fellow fan who was late complained that he could not find even one trisikad near his house. And for a few hours with lots of beer and pulutan despite the hot midday sun, talks on politics did not dominate the gathering.

Well a few updates on friends running came up before the main card. And nobody could ignore the huge Gwen and Glenn tarpaulin inside the kan-anan. But I never got to asking those around for their preference and why. It was, after all, a Pacquiao show.

***

Now that the show’s over, let’s go to politics. Gov. Gwen Garcia is reportedly sticking with Lakas-Kampi’s Gibo Teodoro despite his poor showing in the surveys. She’s committed, somebody told me.

Nevertheless, officers of the Movement for Better Values, which is a parallel group working for the victory of Manny Villar, continues to be hopeful, especially when the promised Gibo surge when the local campaign begins on March 26 would not materialize.

With the way the Villar camp is throwing away billions on television ads this early, however, some local political leaders are also asking if his war chest will last until the end game.

One thing is sure. If the volume of Villar’s ads continues unabated, his camp will have used up its allotted time for television advertisements before the end of the campaign period.

Once this happens, the public could perceive it negatively, like Villar’s funds ran out.

Meanwhile, the Noynoy camp could afford to increase the frequency of its ads during the crucial last weeks. His supporters are also beginning to spend on non-traditional methods.

The owners of the Manila-based tabloid Larga, for example, had decided to support the Noy-Mar candidacy by focusing their coverage on the campaign of the Liberal Party standard-bearers Sen. Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas. The tabloid editor, Mon Alvorque, pointed out over a bowl of halo-halo that the paper is distributed every Sunday in Metro Manila cockpits because its sports section is solely about cocks and cockfighting. “That is our niche market,” he said. This means the sabungeros who congregate every week also get their dosage of pro-Noynoy and Mar items from Larga right inside the cockpit.

Undaunted, Villar supporters remain hopeful that by then, the political bandwagon will go their way. Apo Alvarez of MBV said they intend to focus their attention on Cebu, where they do not have a province-wide organization. And they are quite confident that they can convince Governor Garcia. Good luck, guys.

***

There is one thing that Mayor Tomas Osmeña has failed to do during his nine years in office and that is stop the continuing rise in petty crimes, like petty holdups for even a Nokia 3310 and break-ins of houses and small shops. Over 10 years ago, nobody heard of Akrho and Tau Gamma wars and the younger Bloods and Crips. But now, police are helpless in stopping them from going against each other.

Not even the mayor’s support for vigilantes could stem the increase in petty crimes. And the presence of vigilantes means utter failure by the city police. I cannot stop worrying anymore when the kids—they are teenagers now—ask permission to go out.

From where I sit, the situation has worsened significantly primarily because of the unabated flow of illegal drugs to every nook and cranny in Cebu City. And that’s another Osmeña failure.

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