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The Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz fight gave a well-deserved break for those who were grieving over the loss of loved ones in the Princess of the Stars mishap. The police also reported that the roads last Sunday were quiet and that there were fewer crimes reported.
Some boxing fans weren’t expecting a quick victory by Pacquiao, but after the second round, it became quite evident that Pacquiao’s lethal combination of speed, strength and stamina wouldn’t let the fight reach the final bell. Pacquiao opened the first round with blazing firepower, which he sustained until the ninth round, denying Diaz any breathing space.
Diaz has a tricky habit of knocking out his opponents in the last few rounds of his matches, and I guess that was what many people who betted on the Mexican-American were waiting for. Unfortunately, Pacquiao has all the aces with him. Diaz was outclassed.
Many boxing aficionados were surprised to see a changed Manny Pacquiao smartly using his rapid and tremendous firepower without letup from Round 1. It was his date with greatness, and what an impression he made. He has won the titles in four divisions, undoubtedly the pound-for-pound king in the eyes of many boxing fans even if Floyd Mayweather didn’t retire.
The big question now is: Who’s next? Today it is said that Pacquiao is running out of opponents in any of his four divisions. They are now scrambling for a decent boxer to challenge him this November. His “perfect victory” is giving his promoter a headache in finding an able opponent to boost the Filipino’s claim to pound-for-pound greatness.
I guess what was so great about Pacquiao’s fight against David Diaz was that it was dedicated to all the Filipinos, especially the victims of Typhoon Frank. I’ve heard some relatives of the missing passengers of the Princess of the Star hoping that Pacquiao would share a bit of his prize money with them. And I hope Pacquiao would do just that and, more importantly, visit them in Cebu.
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Many could not understand the decision of Nadsu (Nagkahiusang mga Drayber sa Sugbu) to hold a transport strike leveled against the commuting public. Nadsu is demanding a higher minimum fare of P8 but the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has just granted a provisional increase of P0.50, setting the minimum fare at P7.
Some Cebu City officials lamented the timing of the strike, saying that it might affect the relatives of Princess of the Stars’ passengers who are busy going about the city for any information about their missing kin.
Aside from demanding a higher minimum fare, the strikers also want government to stop oil companies from increasing the pump prices of petroleum. But I think it would be very difficult to grant the two demands. A big fare increase is not in the best interest of the public, and scrapping the oil deregulation law goes against government and World Bank policies.
What the strikers should have demanded was for the government to develop alternative fuel sources and technologies that would be of great help to the transport sector. There are a lot of things we can learn from Brazil and Sweden, for instance.
It is not really known what the government is doing to address this issue, except for its assurances that its agencies are trying their best to curb the cost of electricity. While we appreciate what the government is doing, we can reasonably expect more from it. The government seems to have a bias for giving cash doles to the poor instead of providing long-term solutions to our problems. I guess we could not really depend so much on this government, which appears bankrupt of new ideas.
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With the sinking of Sulpicio Lines’ Princess of the Stars, the government is planning to revive a plan to replace ageing vessels with newer ones in order to avoid sea disasters. Government records show that vessels that figured in these mishaps were more than 20 years old (Princess of the Stars was 24 years old).
There’s also a recommendation to improve the training of ship captains and crewmen.
It has been pointed out that one of the causes of these tragedies is the incompetence of the skippers.
The government should consider these recommendations seriously. The shipping industry is a significant lifeline of our archipelago.
