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Monday, February 16, 2004
Editorial: Tale of two champs
WHEN International Boxing Federation super-bantam champion Manny Pacquiao successfully defended his title for the fourth time in August 2003, crowds lined up from the international airport up to Makati. They chanted “idol, idol” as Pacquiao’s motorcade drove by.
President Arroyo mentioned the new national hero in her State of the Nation Address.
Three months later, when Pacquiao humbled the legendary Mexican fighter Marco Antonio Barrera to become the new world people’s featherweight champion, the President assured him that the “national Philippine hero of today” would be given a “hero’s welcome.”
“We are very proud of our world class champion,” beamed the President.
Congress welcomed Pacquiao’s win as a “temporary relief” from the political bickerings dividing the country.
From Makati to General Santos City, Pacquiao’s hometown, the crowds grew hoarse, shouting “idol, idol.” The GenSan mayor praised him for putting his hometown on the map, now on its way to being known for its boxers as well as for its tuna. No one brought up the champion’s drunken display of wrath when a bargirl rejected him, months earlier.
Vice President Teofisto Guingona said: “Manny Pacquiao embodies the best qualities of the Filipino athlete. His strength, stamina, and unflinching courage in the ring make us all joyous and proud.”
Gold
A year before Pacquiao’s phenomenal victories, four teenagers and a teacher also brought honor and international fame to the Philippines. Unlike Pacquiao, their faces or names don’t stimulate instant recall, not even the teacher whose name has been given by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory to a minor planet located between Mars and Jupiter.
No festive motorcades celebrated their winning. No one cried to their faces “idol, idol.”
These high school students and Dr. Josette Biyo of the Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas had been selected in a nationwide search for the 53rd International Science and Engineering Fair (Isef) in Kentucky, USA.
The Isef is the finals of a worldwide competition for the best science research projects undertaken by high school students from more than 500 affiliated science fairs. The Manila and Iligan students were competing with 1,238 other youths coming from 39 countries and the 51 states of the United States.
Allan Noriel Estrella, Jeric Valles Macalintal and Richard Kristoffer Sanchez Manapat of the Manila Science High School went on to win the first grand award in physics.
Prem Villas Fortran Moso Rara of the MSU-IIT Integrated Developmental School in Iligan City garnered the second grand award for his individual entry in microbiology.
In her competition, Biyo faced a field that was whittled down from 4,000 contenders to just the Chinese and US finalists. Before a panel of judges and about 150 teachers from all over the world, she presented her methods of teaching science research to her students in Iloilo.
The judges gave Biyo the 2002 Intel Excellence in Teaching Award, the first time since 1997 that a teacher in Asia was so honored. Today, there is now a planet Biyo rotating around the sun.
The Philippine delegation had almost been unable to compete. Delayed by visa problems, the team sought the help of Guingona. But the then foreign affairs secretary refused to give an endorsement letter since their office could not guarantee that the team would be returning to the country after the competition.
Biyo and the students had to wait for hours outside the embassy’s gate until a complete stranger, who had just been granted a 10-year visa with multiple entry, consented to hand-carry their letter to the American consul, who immediately gave them visas.
Even with the international science awards, Malacañang postponed thrice the team’s courtesy call to the President. It only pushed through after a high-ranking Intel official arrived from the US and escorted the team.
Biyo continues to serve as a science research 1 and 2 teacher at the Iloilo campus. She uses her teaching grant, one of her prizes, to conduct science education trainings for teachers in Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
During the Intel competition, a judge was shocked to know that Biyo continues to teach, even when her net pay is not more than $300 a month. Biyo’s answer: “And who will teach these kids?”
(February 16, 2004 issue)
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