Is Manny Pacquiao a victim of crab mentality?

Why is it that every time Manny Pacquiao, the reigning World Boxing Organization welterweight champion fights, issues against him readily crop up? There was this tax evasion charges, for instance, which hounded him several years back before he fought Marco Antonio Barrera. Then the infidelity scandal that came out prior to his demolition of Antonio Margarito two years ago. Previous to his confrontation, his third, against Juan Manuel Marquez, reports of his bearing a child to someone other than wife Jinkee also came about.

There they go again. They of the crab mentality syndrome, who hate to see someone succeeding in his calling. Not even a boxer like Manny Pacquiao, who is hailed all over the world as the only man to win eight world championships in as many weight divisions and, thus, brought immeasurable honor to the country.

These are a few of the many issues and charges hurled against the 33-year-old ring icon, who is acknowledged as the saving grace for the bad image the country is being pictured by the Filipino-hating foreign media.

Three months before battling undefeated world junior welterweight titleholder Tim Bradley, another tax evasion case is thrown against him by no less than the government in the person of Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Henares.

Henares herself insinuated the Lord of the Ring might be put in jail
should he fails to settle the alleged discrepancies in the tax return
he filed on regards with his the past two years.

Of course, the foreign media had a feast day exploiting the story derived from their local counterparts based on the statements and pronouncements of the BIR boss, who. some said could be trying to makeup for her unimpressive stint as prosecution witness in the on-going impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Politics, according to them is behind this latest character assassination being employed against Pacquiao, the fighting congressman of Sarangani Province who could easily be the Greatest Filipino Athlete this country has produced in the 100 years of Philippine sports if there is one.

Two days ago, an American boxing writer wrote that politics could, indeed, be the reason. Manny, he reported, is a well known friend of former President, Gloria Arroyo who is currently under "hospital arrest" and a sworn enemy of the current President.

“Although Manny tried to be in his (President Noynoy) good graces, Manny has not completely voted in Congress the way the Administration would want him todo. Even the funding for his hospital in Sarangani is in jeopardy,” the writer reported.

A kind of story the country doesn’t need at this time when the name Philippines and the Filipino still remain in the quagmire of corruption-related controversies that place the country and this government in bad light.

Whatever the reasons are, politics or not, the present issue might could serve as mental distraction that can affect Pacquiao’s performance in his coming fight on June 9 like the infidelity issue that confronted him in Act III of his trilogy with Marquez whom he barely defeated.

The saddest part of the whole thing is that the still to be proven misdemeanor emanated right in this shore inspired by a branch of government and exploited by Philippine media.

If this is being made to destroy Pacquiao, a national treasure, then those who started the move several years back might succeed this time. The story added that “in the Philippines, there is a saying "weather-weather", meaning "panapanahon" loosely translated as "your time was yesterday, now it is our time". Whoever is in charge and the friends of those in charge, call the shots. And the friends of the those previously in charge better fly under the radar.

It appears that everybody and anybody who had some close relationships with the former administration are targeted. I don't have any evidence but I speculate that Manny is being sent a message, "you may be the most famous Pinoy, but the only P' Noy who counts is NoyNoy, the President.

If Manny wants to succeed politically, he has to bow to the current king of Malacanang.

Just like most high profile political drama in the Philippines, this will be a forgotten footnote a couple of weeks from now. There is another saying in the Philippines, "ningas kugon", meaning sudden wild fire but fizzles in a second.

There will be a lot of noise about this right now but will be forgotten and would seem a distant past by next month. By the time he fights in June, same politicians who are going after him will be jockeying for position among each other to gain Manny's favor for a seat to see him at MGM.

I would not be surprised that the BIR's senior leadership would be at ringside. By the way, unlike the IRS which sent Al Capone to prison, the BIR has yet to send a single high profile tax cheat to prison.

If The BIR actually prosecutes and sends tax cheats to prison, the Philippines will be left without a government. They will all be in Muntinlupa.