Woman with balls

It’s not only a group of mostly heritage and naturalized men who can beat powerhouse China in basketball. It’s not only superman EJ Obiena who defies gravity aided by a bendable stick that catapulted him over and above a Chinese jumper. There is a Filipino woman too, by the name of Chezka Centeno, who this week beat another Chinese, not only in Asia but in the world 10-ball championships.

Apparently, the Zamboangueña got tired of her Southeast Asian excellence she decided to pocket the world, beat other women in the qualification and knockout phase, including her come from behind semifinal win reminiscent of the marvelous upset pulled by Gilas against China in the Asiad. The basketball gold tasted the sweetest until Justin Brownlee tested positive. But the gold has not been taken away from us, unlike some parts of our territory.

Accordingly, it needs two more players to test positive for banned substances to infect the entire team and nullify the golden redemption. So far no word says another is found. No news is good news, unless it is suppressed. No need, people today prefer to believe in lies. It is easier, no need to think. A no-brainer, especially if there is no brain to begin with. Or unless it mutates to fake news, the gospel truth of the stupid and the gullible that includes even the most lettered and the cuttingly incisive.

Whatever. People no longer care about the difference between fact and fiction, right and wrong. They only care about what entertains them, for poorer or for poorest. But Centeno is now $50,000 richer less tax here and there. No problem with tax, it is the lifeblood of the government, unless thievery with impunity bleeds it dry for the destitute to fight over the residue.

Well, death and taxes are two of the known certainties in life. But at least death is the end of life while tax is the beginning of death so slow the poor become poorer and the rich become filthier. Gradual death to the hopeless while instant wealth to the ruthless, without reference to lottery left to chance, but to robbery left to certainty.

But really, Chezka is another testament of what a woman can do, even better than what men think they can do best. Or alone. Billiards, like basketball and boxing used to be a man’s territory. Not even the black widow could outsmart the magician before. She looked dangerous, but just the part, not the art. Hype, but now the women are ripe, ready to occupy space and throw their weight. They have long mattered, starting with our mother.

For the men who still feel superior over women based on physical strength thus, try giving birth the natural way. Even the painless alternative hurts more after the artificial process. Just as for those who believe the minimum wage is enough for laborers, try their income to know what is dying on a living wage.