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Contrary to earlier reports, Maria Sharapova will not be the Russian
flag bearer at the opening of the Beijing Olympics. She will still
lead her country’s tennis team in the 2008 Games, but her handlers
feel that making her carry the flag for her country’s contingent
would make her “needlessly tired” before her matches.
Yao Ming will again carry the Chinese flag for
the Olympic opening rites next month. It will be a reprise of the
stellar role he played four years ago in Athens where he temporarily
took off his Houston Rockets jersey and suited up for the Chinese
national team.
Reports that Sharapova and Yao would carry the
flag for their respective national contingents were mentioned in the
justification for President Gloria Arroyo’s decision to appoint
Manny Pacquiao as the Philippine contingent’s flag bearer in
Beijing.
Proponents of the idea asked—rhetorically, for
sure: Sharapova and Yao are professional athletes; why shouldn’t
Pacquiao, the holder of four professional boxing world titles, be
also allowed to march ahead of his athlete-compatriots?
True, the Russian tennis sensation and the
towering Chinese hoopster both play for pay—but they are also
legitimate members of the exclusive Olympic fraternity. Sharapova
and Yao are, in fact, accredited Olympic athletes for whom
accommodations have already been reserved in the athletes’
quarters in Beijing. Pacquiao is not.
The so-called Pambansang Kamao has time and
again buoyed the nation’s morale with his magnificent ring
performances. His latest conquest of David Diaz, from whom he
grabbed the WBC lightweight title, gave Filipinos cause to
celebrate—and feel good about themselves, albeit briefly.
Notwithstanding his countrymen’s adulation,
Pacquiao will always be seen by everybody else as nothing more—and
nothing less—than a prizefighter. He is a professional pugilist
who slugs it out on the ring primarily for the purse and not Olympic
glory.
Unlike Sharapova or Yao, Pacquiao has never
qualified for the Olympics. Prizefighting, which does not follow the
rules of Olympic boxing, is his specialty. In the mass of athletes
in the Beijing Games, Pacquiao would stand out like the proverbial
sore thumb—a potential embarrassment for himself and for his
country.
Sick joke
If you have access to the Internet, you would
have probably received by now an email containing a prediction of an
8.1 (sic) earthquake that will hit the Philippines on July 18. The
email identified a certain Juseleeno Nobulega DaRoose as the source
of the prophecy.
Evidently, the email, titled “Warning on
future disasters— July 18,” is hoax.
A Google search for “Juseleeno Nobulega
DaRoose” turned up zilch. The closest match was for a “Jucelino
Nobrega da Luz,” a self-styled seer from Brazil who maintains a
website http://www.jucelinodaluz.com.br/previsoes_2008_english.htm,
which contains a month by month list of dire predictions for this
year. However, it contains no entry about a strong earthquake that
is set to rock the Philippines on July 18.
Da Luz did make passing mention of big floods
resulting from a “hurricane” in the Philippines in June, which
was so convenient since this is the rainy season after all in our
part of the world. Besides, “hurricanes” are what storms are
called in the Atlantic Ocean; in the Pacific they are called
“typhoons.”
The purveyor of the “Juseleeno” email
credits the 47-year-old Brazilian with having foreseen the death of
Princess Diana and the 9/11 attacks on the US, among others.
Interestingly, he failed to predict the
skyrocketing oil prices, which is by far the gravest and most
widespread calamity to hit the world in recent memory.
Do our people a favor. If and when you get the
“Warning on future disasters” email, hit the delete button.
Filipinos have more than enough worries on their mind without being
bothered by this sick joke.
Namedropping backfires
Sometimes it does not pay to name-drop. This was
the lesson a businessman, identified in newspaper reports as
Romualdo Lingan, who was nabbed past midnight on Thursday after he
allegedly poked a handgun at several men during what was described
as a “road altercation” in Quezon City.
While in police custody, Lingan reportedly
introduced himself as a cousin of Director Geary Barias of the
National Capital Region Police Office. Wrong move. Lingan only made
a bad situation worse—for himself.
Lingan’s semi-automatic pistol was properly
licensed and he did present a police permit to carry his weapon
outside his residence. However, he made matters worse for himself
when he dropped the name of Barias, who was immediately
contacted—but, of course—by the arresting officers.
Rather than spring his kinsman, the Metro Manila
police chief told Quezon City lawmen to throw the proverbial book at
Lingan—if he had indeed committed a crime. Reports quoted Barias
saying that his relative “should face any consequence if he really
committed an offense.”
Lingan’s accusers said the incident took place
around 1 a.m. along IBP Road leading to Violago Subdivision. The
complainants said they were crossing the road when Lingan suddenly
alighted from his car and poked his pistol at them.
For his part, Lingan claimed that he got out of
his car because he thought the men meant to gang up on him. He added
that there had been several robbery incidents on IBP Road in the
recent past.
Unfortunately, none of the published reports
managed to say what those seven men were doing out on the road past
midnight. Hmmm.
dansoy26@yahoo.com
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