A lesson for Manny

There’s outrage over the result of the Pacquiao-Bradley fight. Experts have said that the fight was rigged against Pacquiao, it was lopsided against him. Inquirer columnist Conrad de Quiros said that it was cheating, plain and simple – Pacquiao wasn’t just fighting Bradley, he was fighting against organized crime.

I wish Manny justice, and may he get the victory that he deserves. People assume that as a bakla, I must have wished him ill or defeat. I said on Twitter that I can’t find the desire to give him moral support, but that’s different. It is not for the lack of national pride on my part (mine is not anchored on our celebrity boxers or singers, although that’s not the point), but I can’t, for the life of me, cheer for someone who can’t do the same in my daily struggles.

I did not wish him defeat in this fight, or in any other fight, but I wish that he acquires the capacity to feel for others, that he realizes that there’s a lesson bigger than the WBO welter weight championship that could be won from this game: that for any decent person, for any hardworking Filipino, all that matters is basic fairness and a level playing field.