Laughingstock of the world

Many, if not most, Filipinos who watched the Pacquiao-Marquez fight on television think it was Juan Manuel Marquez who won the match.

They were disappointed when the judges scored the match in favor of Pacquiao when they saw with their own eyes that Marquez made more hits on their compatriot than the latter on the Mexican pugilist.

The Filipino has fully matured as an objective witness to an event that he had a big stake in, given his reaction to what he considers a partial or biased decision by the judges.

Let’s all shout “Hooray!” for the Filipinos’ sense of fair play.

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The elevated sense of fair play that the Filipinos have displayed on the “unfair” verdict by the judges in the Pacquiao-Marquez fight may spill over to other virtues like honesty which we, as a people, lack.

For example, if you unknowingly leave valuable items in a cab, nine in 10, these will never be returned.

Honesty is lacking when the Pinoy does not declare his total earnings in his income tax returns.

Never mind if the government is dishonest—the reason we give ourselves for not paying taxes since, we tell ourselves, our money will be wasted anyway—but that’s still dishonesty. One cannot right a wrong by committing another wrong.

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Corrupt judges and justices in the Court of Appeals already have a template in making their decisions given the Filipinos’ verdict on the Pacquiao-Marquez match.

These corrupt judges and justices, whose decisions are based on money and not on merit, should now be shamed into meting out just verdicts.

Much as they wanted their compatriot to win over the Mexican boxer, the Filipinos sided with the Mexican and denounced what they considered an unfair verdict.

It’s the start of big things for the Pinoy, like national discipline and, consequently, economic prosperity.

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The Supreme Court has been made a toothless tiger, courtesy of the Aquino administration.

It ruled that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can travel abroad to seek medical treatment, but the government of President Noy ignored the decision.

The high court cannot hold Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in contempt and have her and President Noy arrested because it does not have the means to do so.

Who will carry out the arrest order on the President and the Secretary of Justice should the Supreme Court make the historic move?

The Philippine National Police? The National Bureau of Investigation?               Both are under the executive branch of government headed by the President of the Republic.

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De Lima has said the country would become the “laughingstock of the world” if GMA were allowed to leave despite the hold-departure order on her.

De Lima’s words were prophetic, but in a different sense: The Philippine government has again become the laughingstock of the world, after the Luneta massacre.

Imagine, a secretary of justice, a mere cog in the wheel of the executive branch, disobeying an order from the high tribunal, a co-equal branch of the executive department!

What could be funnier than that?