Monday, March 15, 2010

Pacquiao - Clottey The Un-Event

Pacquiao-Clottey
The Pacquiao-Clottey fight was dubbed 'The Event' but it was uneventful. The only highlight of the bout was the illegal pompyang punch thrown by the frustrated pound-for-pound king in the fourth round. He must have seen a lot of FPJ and Lito Lapid movies in his youth.

The cinema where I watched was packed full. When I bought my ticket about 3 weeks ago, there was just a handful of seats taken. Unlike the previous Pacquiao fights in the same mall where they had three cinemas for the fight, this time they used just one. But in in the fight venue at Arlington, Texas, they sold out all tickets, and more.

And unlike the previous fights staged in Las Vegas, there were few Hollywood celebrities present. Though they showed a lot of presumably Texas sports celebrities who are obscure to Pinoy fans.

The highlights were not from the fight. The Texas Cowboy cheerleaders really look good. They evoke memories of the Debbie Does Dallas movie and its copycats/sequels of my youth. Their rendition of the US national anthem is surprisingly simple but good. Their skimpy outfit and singing of the anthem should make Americans stand erect.

pacquiao-clotteyWhich cannot be said of Arnel Pineda's version of the Lupang Hinirang. After the controversy about Martin Nievera in the Pacquiao-Hatton fight, the non-controversial version of La Diva, and the general perception that Kyla's version (in Pacquiao-Barrera 2) is the best, I thought Arnel will follow tradition. After all, he said so himself. But it seems the tradition now is to not follow tradition. So after following the standard arrangement in the first few verses of the anthem, Arnel Pineda decided to show the world the a la Steve Perry version. For that expect him to get the flak in the coming days.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The candidates - up close and personal

The Philippine Star conducted one-on-one interviews with the presidential candidates. Sara Soliven de Guzman was able to observe their mannerisms, body language, eye movements and their general behavior whenever crucial, controversial, irritating, or easy questions were asked.

Her general observations on Villar, Erap and Gibo fit in the general expectations or their known reputations. It is her observations of Noynoy which are more revealing, as they do not generally conform to the 'rumors'.

According to her, Manny Villar brings in an “entrepreneurial spirit” in the presidential race. He was frank, earnest, tactless. He had wit, intelligence and fiery drive. He surely will never run away from this fight!

Joseph “Erap” had a congenial presence. He is a seasoned, charming, candid, friendly politician. Erap is the “most charming” presidential candidate. He’s got the will to survive (in this race)!

Gilbert Teodoro had no “airs” whatsoever. He was very modest, friendly, and docile. He had a very pleasing personality, very respectful, quite spirited, serious and intelligent. He is the “politician” in the purest form of the word amongst the presidential candidates. He thinks fast, quite cunning and calculating, very sharp and clever. He is very convincing and irresistible.

Noynoy Aquino was generally kind, courteous, soft-spoken and tranquil. He exuded confidence especially when it came to affairs of the state. He is not naïve. He is the “pure statesman” in this presidential race. He is like a walking encyclopedia. Amongst all the candidates, he knows that a revolutionary change is just what the world and the people need. His vision has clearly put him way ahead of the rest.

I think I know who Ms. Soliven is voting for. I think we should go for him too.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Villar's net worth rises faster than GNP

A presidential campaign costs hundreds of millions if not billions. Manny Villar reportedly spent over half a billion in ads alone in October-December last year. Yet if he wins, he stands to earn just 60k pesos a month, which is in a 6-year term a little over 3million after taxes. Villar's spending is way over the top but the other candidates are also spending a small fortune.

Using available data from the Internet, below is a table of the candidates net worth over the years and the Philippines GNP. The data comes from a PCIJ article on the candidates rise in wealth despite poll expenses. The Philippine GNP data is from the IMF's World Economic Outlook. I used the previous available data to fill up the years with no available data. Then I prepared a simple line graph to see the relative rise in the figures.

As was observed by the PCIJ, the candidates’ rise in net worth typically came after an election year - while they were supposedly serving in office, while they should not have benefited from business from which they should have divested their interests. PCIJ also observed that the spike in their net worth even defied the slump in both local and global economy because of the financial crisis in 1997 and 2008.

The graph clearly show that Villar's (and to some extentGibo's ) rise in net worth is higher than the rise in GNP. The red line shows the Philippines GNP in current prices, the orange line is Villar's net worth, the green is Gibo's, Erap's is the dark orange, Dick's is the pink one, Noynoy's is the pitiful yellow languishing at the bottom. Erap's net worth rose sharply after getting elected in 1998. Gibo's net worth rose because of some lucky inheritance.  What is Villar's excuse?


Noynoy Erap Gordon Gibo Villar Phil., GNP (US$)
1992
3.41 8.3
75.43 52.982
1993
3.41 8.3
75.43 54.368
1994
3.41 8.3
75.43 64.084
1995
3.41 11.87
75.43 75.525
1996
3.41 11.87
319.92 84.371
1997
3.41 11.87
319.92 83.736
1998 8.7 3.41 11.87 80.17 319.92 66.596
1999 8.7 35.86 11.87 80.17 319.92 76.157
2000 8.7 35.86 11.87 80.17 319.92 75.912
2001 8.7 35.86 11.87 74.54 319.92 71.216
2002 11.98 35.86 24.92 74.54 481.5 76.814
2003 11.98 35.86 24.92 74.54 481.5 79.634
2004 11.98 35.86 24.92 74.54 481.5 86.930
2005 13.46 35.86 24.92 232.43 759.82 98.829
2006 13.46 35.86 24.92 232.43 759.82 117.534
2007 13.94 35.86 26.52 232.43 759.82 144.043
2008 13.94 35.86 26.52 232.43 1050.00 166.909

Friday, March 5, 2010

Manny Pacquiao on the Jimmy Kimmel Show 2



Manny Pacquiao again appeared in the Jimmy Kimmel show, this time to promote his fight against Joshua Clottey. The first time he appeared on the show he was rumored to bring along Krista Ranillo. He sang "Sometimes When We Touch" in that show. This time to make amends to his wife, he reportedly brought along Jinkee. And to top it all, he sang a reaffirming "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You".

Before his song number, Manny took a dig against Mayweather for the Fraud Gayweather's insistence for a blood test close to the fight. Manny said the boxers' job is to fight and not to make the rules. He repeated his willingness to fight anybody.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Sweet sweep for Purefoods

PBA All Filipino 2010
Congratulations to the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs for sweeping the Alaska Aces 4-0 in winning the All-Filipino Cup 2010. Their 10 point margin in the last game is the biggest win in the series. The 2nd and 3rd games were just 1 point wins and both came from questionable calls or non-calls in the end game. But this last win is also the sweetest because they won it in a clear and uncontroversial fashion. They deserve this title.

Alaska came out flat in the series, unable to match the energy of the supposedly tired Hotdogs. Wala pa ring tatalo sa Alaska?

It looks like my son 7-yr old Popoy will also be an avid sports fan. He roots for Purefoods. He took an interest in the game because of the fine semifinal series against SMB. To keep his interest I told him I'm for Alaska. Now he has bragging rights till the next championships.