by Antonio C. Abaya

It is hard to find a year in recent memory that can be described as a feel-good year for us Filipinos as the exiting 2009.

Despite the death and devastation from mega-floods and mudslides brought about by extreme weather conditions—especially tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng—there were major events in 2009 that have lifted the spirits of demoralized Filipinos, long used to litanies of bad-news events and national failures.

Topping the list, of course, is the spectacular boxing victory of Manny Pacquiao over his opponent, Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico.

I was probably the only columnist in Metro Manila who did not watch the Pacquiao-Cotto fight. That’s because I do not have any interest in or enthusiasm for the sport of boxing, even if it were Oprah Winfrey and the Queen of England beating each other to a pulp.

But that’s just me. I have my particular likes and dislikes. I lived almost five years in the US without watching a single baseball game, which I find boring. But I watched dozens of basketball and American football games, even ice-hockey. I did see a solitary boxing match, in Chicago—in which Floyd Patterson knocked out Archie Moore for the world heavyweight championship—but only because my apartment-mate Jimmy dragged us to watch it.

During World Cups, my son Hochi and I wake up at 3 in the morning to watch the football games in Europe. And during the Summer Olympics, I am especially fond of track and field, gymnastics, volleyball, and swimming. In college, I was into track and field (1,500-meter run). After college, my sport of choice was competitive sailing at the Manila Yacht Club.

But boxing leaves me totally cold. This is not to say, however, that I do not celebrate the victory of Manny Pacquiao. I do. That he has now won seven world championships in seven weight divisions is, according to those in the know, a singular distinction in the history of boxing.

And TIME magazine does not put just anybody on its cover for nothing. Somebody we all know has been trying all these nine years to project herself as a world stateswoman, even claiming that she can turn the Philippines into a First World country in 20 years. TIME rightly does not pay even the slightest attention to her.

Congratulations to Manny Pacquiao for his history-setting victory and for giving us Filipinos a palpable reason for being proud to be Filipinos. But, for heaven’s sake, Manny, stay away from politics. That is miles away from your line of expertise. You will just be manipulated by Mafioso-type crooks behind you who may be planning to use you for their own selfish agendas.

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Barely a week after Manny Pacquiao’s spectacular victory on the world boxing arena, another Filipino did his countrymen proud. Efren Peñaflorida of Cavite City was chosen CNN Hero of the Year, besting some 9,000 other entries from around the world, and nine other finalists in the final week of elimination.

Efren’s victory did not come from inflicting pain and physical punishment on his rivals, but apparently from out-pointing them in the scope and benign influence of his social enterprise, compared to theirs.

As everyone by now knows, Efren organized a social program that brought books and education to thousands of slum children in his Cavite City. These kids did not otherwise have the means to attend even public school. Efren and his young volunteers move their mobile classrooms around Cavite’s slums on pushcarts. Hence, Efren has been tagged as the Pushcart Educator.  

The CNN award is of recent vintage and is meant to “do something that’s not done—shine a light on everyday people that do extraordinary work,” said the president of CNN Worldwide. “With the recognition they receive on our stage, they’ll be able to help thousands and thousands of people. Through their efforts, lives will be changed and lives will be saved,” says the show’s host, Anderson Cooper.

For his initiative, Efren receives a prize of $100,000, in addition to another $25,000 for reaching the finals.

Said the 28-year-old Efren: “Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry. Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have look inside and search for it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need….Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve.

“As I always tell my co-volunteers, you are the change that you dream, as I am the change that I dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be….”

Well said, Efren. May you remain as pure as the first showers in May. Who knows, 12 years from now, when you reach 40, perhaps you can aspire to be president of this land. You will at least have some solid accomplishments to your name, earned through your own initiative and efforts, which showcase your ability to organize and motivate others for a worthy social cause. Not many politicians, even presidential aspirants, in the present arena have done what you have done. Mabuhay ka!

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Lest we forget, we must mention that last May, a young Filipino filmmaker, Brillante “Dante” Mendoza won the Best Director prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for his full-length feature film Kinatay.

Mendoza’s film bested entries from more experienced directors like Taiwan’s Ang Lee, Spain’s Pedro Almodovar, New Zealand’s Jane Campion, Denmark’s Lars von Trier, and the US’ Quentin Tarantino.

The Cannes Film Festival is considered the world’s most prestigious, and winning its Best Director prize puts Mendoza in the same bracket as Martin Scorsese of the US, Ingmar Bergman of Sweden,  Francois Truffaut of France, Luis Buñuel  of Spain/Mexico, Werner Herzog of Germany, and Robert Altman of the US.

Said Mendoza: “It’s sad. Sometimes I feel I’m all alone in this struggle. Sometimes I don’t feel welcome back home. I hope our countrymen will embrace my films too. The Philippine government should recognize artists’ efforts to bring honor to the country. It’s hard when you’re on your own in a foreign land. We need all the encouragement and support we can get.”

As a film buff and collector of cinematic masterpieces from all over the world, I just have one question. Where on earth does one get a copy of Kinatay?

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Year 2009 would have been a perfect Feel-Good Year of the Filipino if the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded during the second week of December, had been given to Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga, who has solid accomplishments in his chosen field of social activism.

Instead the Norwegians gave it to US President Barack Obama, who has not yet done anything to deserve it.

It should be noted that all the outstanding Filipinos mentioned in this piece—boxer Manny Pacquiao, pushcart educator Efren Peñaflorida, film director Dante Mendoza, and GK Founder Tony Meloto—all achieved their crowning glory without any help from the government.

What does this tell us? That Filipinos can be, and in fact are, outstanding in their chosen fields. It is their government and their politicians that are the problem.  

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