Bold example

Poparazzi

(Intro) Hollywood celebrity Stephen Baldwin, who was among the throng of well-wishers that appeared in Manny Pacquiao’s locker room after his spectacular win last Sunday, has a mouthful to say about the boxing hero. In an interview aired on “24 Oras,” the youngest among the famous Baldwin brothers said, “He’s my model. When I feel down or discouraged, I remember (his story). He’s a man of great faith.”

True, if improvement as a boxer is one thing that has been visibly consistent in the progress of Manny Pacquiao’s career, his display of “great faith” is another. The more successful he becomes, it seems the more open he is of his faith. He appears as serious about his position as a standard-bearer of the Filipino people as he is about declarations of faith.  

Pacman, together with his number one fan and prayer warrior Nanay Dionisia, stormed the heavens with prayers in the days leading up to his fight with Ricky Hatton. Based on news reports, he would always hear mass, pray the rosary everyday, among others. Of course, we’ve all seen how he started and ended his fight by quietly praying on his knees in a corner even as the world behind him went wild over the way he overpowered the British slugger inside the ring.

This now familiar stance has already been immortalized in a print campaign of Nike, of which Manny is an endorser alongside international sports superstars.

Pacman is so sure about how his faith has figured in his life and his continued success that even if he has never been particularly queried about it by the media, he still finds a way of making it known. Case in point, in a special feature for CNN’s TalkAsia, wherein he was asked what he thinks of the mega-bucks he has raked in through his fights, he simply answered, “It’s a gift from God.”

When boxing promoter Bob Arum praised him before reporters as “the greatest fighter that ever lived,” Manny reacted, “Don’t forget God.”

In the eyes of boxing buffs and experts, it was his right hook that did it, but Pacquiao was clear on whom to give credit. He was quoted by The Philippine Star as saying, “I owe everything to God. With God on your side, anything is possible. You can do things you thought you could only dream about.”

From etiquette classes, I learned that, just like sex and politics, religion, faith, and God are taboo, if not polarizing, subjects. But these days, public discussions (not to mention media exposure) on sex and politics have reached epic proportions. Why do many of us still tread softly around the subject of faith, if not skip it altogether?

Or, to echo one priest’s rumination, why do we easily lose ourselves in other identities and are so quick to claim we’re everything and anything but a Christian like being a Kapamilya or Kapuso and even go into verbal and online tussles just to defend network loyalties?

In that case, thank God for somebody like Manny. By his bold example, we learn that, you know, faith is nothing to be ashamed of.