Polo Blue

Netnet Camomot

I HAD only one question for him: “Humot kaayo ka, unsay imong cologne?”

He said, “Polo…” But the place was buzzing with excitement aimed at The One, The Only. So, I asked, “Unsa?” He said again, “Polo…” But I could hardly hear the second word. So, I asked again, “Unsa?” And he replied again, “Polo…” That Q&A lasted with at least two other exchanges of the same until I finally heard the second word: “Blue.”

All that time, he politely replied with those same two words, “Polo Blue,” without losing his cool, his patience, and his warm smile. That’s the one and only Pambansang Kamao, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, who will surely become a senator next year if the majority of the madlang pehpohl will be convinced of his K to coexist with the most brilliant minds of Pinas within the august halls of the Senate.

No, that’s not K for jinKee nor K for Korina. Puede pa siguro ang Jinkee. But Korina? Hmmm, never. For Pacquiao is running under the group of the “presidentiable” who used to top the surveys a long time ago, before the great reveal on Makati’s “success” story.

Eons later, and here’s that presidentiable, probably hoping for the magic spell of the kamao to also bring luck to his presidential campaign.

To describe the present and future batches of senators as “the most brilliant minds of Pinas” must be akin to calling Pacquiao as the most handsome Pinoy, but he’s, uh, charming and, well, humot. Our noses could get a whiff of his scent the moment he entered the Mandana Hall of the VIP Hotel on Friday.

But Pacquiao can’t be described as merely most handsome. There are men who fit that description and are stuck there, with nothing else attached to their names. Pacquiao, on the other hand, is the most popular Pinoy in the universe, we gotta feeling even Martians pause for a while to watch his fights.

Surprisingly, Pacquiao didn’t utter his favorite two words on Friday–you know, his “you know.” Not even once.

It was a luncheon meeting for the Rotary International District 3870 Zone 1 Rotarians, hosted by the Rotary Club of West Cagayan de Oro. There was a slight delay due to Pacquiao’s last-minute preference for a land trip over a plane ride so he could sleep inside his car–a black Hummer?–during the long-and-winding travel. Ever notice how short a plane ride is for a, well, short distance? Board the plane; fasten seatbelt; pilot delivers short talk on the weather, altitude, estimated time of arrival; unfasten seatbelt; and disembark from the plane.

Pacquiao wanted to look rested and fresh for the luncheon, thus, the land trip. Although that did encourage huge question marks to hover above my head since I always prefer flying than traveling by land.

Except for our growling tummies, most of us didn’t mind the wait at all. This was after all the “Pambansang Kamao,” the idol of even the most popular icons in the world.

It must be true that people who have been there, done that, and have achieved so much through focus, commitment, and strength of character, are also gifted with utmost humility, for they know how difficult it is to climb that ladder to success, and now that they’re way up there, they have nothing more to prove.

Pacquiao is the epitome of humility if the one we met was indeed his true self and not simply a mask to gain votes for his Senate fun run. Before the meeting ended, he reminded the emcee about the photo ops. He gamely and patiently posed for photos and even took selfies using the Rotarians’ and our guests’ cell phone cameras. He answered questions and obliged requests for kisses and autographs without any trace of irritation or inconvenience at being subjected to such mundane activities other than winning one boxing belt after another.

He has rubbed elbows with the most famous of his fans who also happen to be a who’s who in the world like him. But there was no trace of an above-it-all aura. Instead, there was the cologne. And the warm smile. And the humility.

I don’t know if Pinoys will still remember his many absences in Congress by the time they will write down on the ballot their choices for senators in May 2016. But surely they will remember his kamao and the honor it has brought to our country.

In his speech, he recalled his family’s humble beginnings, when his mother Dionisia would advise his brother to drink water to sate hunger pangs for there was no other to fill up the tummy. And how his new-found success initially tempted him to have “ABS.” No, not six-pack abs. ABS as in alak, babae, sugal. And how he used to reach as far as CDO for sabong. But all that stopped when he found God, making him give up his “worldly vices.” Now, he says his wife Jinkee is worry-free.

He quoted Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

He also quoted the Rotary’s Four-Way Test and likened each of them to his experiences, principles, values, plans and goals.

He said he’s running for the Senate to help Pinoys gain self-sufficiency.

For some of his Senate goals, he mentioned giving sustainable livelihood, exporting instead of importing rice, free education from elementary to college, increasing the minimum salary of teachers, to level up the quality of education with teachers undergoing training during summer vacations, supporting sports from the grassroots level and discovering new athletes not only in boxing but all kinds of sports which, he said, have no or have minimal budgets for now, thus, how could we expect these athletes to win gold medals in the Olympics if they’re not even provided with proper nutrition.

He also added the preparation of a handbook for OFWs, which a friend reacted to by whispering to me, Wala pa diay ingon ana ron?

He stressed on focus: “Pinag-aaralan ko before ako mag-decision.” And added that, “Ang mama ko ayaw na akong mag-boxing.” How many times had Mommy D said that in past? But he always chose to have one more fight anyway.

For now, though, his focus is this: “Kaunlaran at pagbabago sa bansa.”

He spoke mostly in English with some Cebuano thrown in whenever he was reading from his teleprompter script, and used Tagalog for his own personal anecdotes, which prompted someone to comment, Nganong dili na man lang siya mag-Bisaya.

Dad, an avid boxing and Pacquiao fan, was disappointed upon learning that his favorite boxer is not a Cebuano. Dad was proud of anyone and anything Cebuano. Each time he watched boxing on TV and there’s one more Pinoy boxer winning in a fight, he would always say, Taga-Cebu na!

I’m not exactly an avid fan–there was this one fight that I missed. I forgot about it until I was roaming around a Quezon City mall and saw people leaving its cinemas, looking so sad, like as if someone had died. When I asked them what happened, they answered, Talo si Manny. And that’s when I realized, o my gas, there’s a Pacquiao fight and I forgot!