Thursday, May 10, 2007 So: Pacquiao’s campaign in Gensan By Michelle P. So Caught in the Net
NON-PARTISAN people in General Santos City say that, between incumbent Darlene Antonino-Custodio and challenger Emmanuel Pacquiao, they will choose the “lesser evil.”
By that they mean they would rather vote for Custodio, who in her six years as their congresswoman hasn’t done anything tangible for them, because she’s still a way better choice than Pacquiao.
They reject Pacquiao, they say, because he is unqualified and hubristic. He remains their boxing champion but no more than that.
A weekend trip to his home place in Gensan revealed things about the Pinoy icon whose side as a pugilist and a multi-product endorser is only what we’ve been seeing and reading about.
From accounts of a group of community journalists based in Socsksargen (South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Saranggani, General Santos) and who have covered him in Gensan, this is how Pacman is running his political campaign:
l In rallies, he offers no legislative agenda and instead promises that with his access to the Arroyo administration, he can deliver services and projects expeditiously. He pronounces, “Dapat maru-nong kang sumayaw. Ang importante ay malapit ka sa Malacañang.” (You should know how to dance to the music. The important thing is, you are close to the powers-that-be.) He also brags that the only development seen in Gensan in the last 10 years is his “mansion” in Lagao.
Pacquiao, 28, is an administration candidate whose ring fights always deflect bad GMA press. Custodio, 33, is opposition and had voted for Arroyo’s impeachment in 2005. Seeking a third term, Custodio took over the congressional reins from her mother, Lualhati Antonino, who took over from her husband, Adelbert Antonino. Together, they have wielded power in the district for 20 years.
l He skips public fora and begs off from speaking before the Gensan chamber of commerce.
l He has tapped 19 radio broadcasters to polish his image and sling mud at his opponent. He also has placed spots in almost all radio programs listened to in the first district of South Cotabato.
l His supporters complain that his leaders are not paying them right. It’s his supporters and Custodio’s who get into heated bickering. Custodio’s supporters always harp on Pacquiao’s lowly education.
Custodio supporters: What does Pacquiao know? He only finished grade four.
Pacquiao supporters: Hello! He’s college level!
When he received his high school diploma for having passed the accreditation and equivalency test last February, Pacquiao jokingly said he might enroll in Ateneo for a college course.
He is making Custodio campaign hard and expensively. Despite what the Gensan folk think of him as a candidate, he is Pacman who has resources at his disposal. Both are determined to win, dirty tricks or no dirty tricks. The text about Pacquiao’s fatal ambush circulated over the weekend was one.
Voters’ rejection of Pacquiao could only be confined in Gensan. He could rack up the numbers in Polomolok, Tampakan and Tupi towns. But Gensan is the key area of the 400,000-vote-strong district.
An anecdote narrated by the Socsksargen journalists tells of the character of our champion.
This happened in the bar above the restaurant where we were having our meeting. Pacquiao, who is now establishing himself as a moneyed boxing great, took a liking to the singer. She declined his invitation to sit at his table because she was with her husband, the pianist. Enraged at the rebuff, Pacquiao, who already had a drink too many, threw a fit and kicked chairs.
What does that tell us of our ring hero? If people reject him on Monday, what will he do? Thrash the Comelec office?
