Manny Pacquiao is a Big Business

Sadly, Manny Pacquiao himself doesn't know how to handle it on his own.

He shocked everybody last week when he appeared on ABS CBN to announce his decision to drop Solar Sports and GMA 7 and team up with the Kapamilya channel in airing his fights, including the one with Ricky Hatton on May 2.

Two of GMA 7's top executives as well as Solar Sports representatives immediately flew over to where the Pacman is training to see and talk things out with him. Maybe he saw it and he was talked to, because over the weekend, he is singing a different tune.

Now that Pacman has turned his back on ABS CBN, he has also made sure that he'd ruin the network's reputation by saying that what he said on TV was scripted and it was written by ABS CBN's lawyers. I am counting the days when he would retract such statement to say that it was also scripted and top executives of GMA 7 made him say those words.

He is a good boxer. I don't want to demean his intellectual capacity because I don't know the guy personally. What I see in him is someone who doesn't have pride, someone who doesn't know what integrity and loyalty mean.

He has gone up so high. He needs to be pulled back to remind him that he will not always be on top. He used to be hailed as someone who unites the Filipino people because of his intent to win on his fights. But now we're faced with the truth. For Manny, it's all about the money.

A Recap of the Past and Recent Showbiz Scoops

I know, I know, I have been slacking around towards the end of 2008 up until the start of this year. To all of you who loves the showbiz world and of course the gossips, belated Merry Christmas and New Year as well!

In Hollywood, John Travolta's teenage son was laid to rest. The 16-year-old boy had a seizure that caused his death.

Locally, while everybody was cheering for Manny Pacquiao's win over pretty boy Oscar dela Hoya, the family, fans and friends grieved for the sudden death of young TV personality, Marky Cielo.

Up until now, Marky's death is still a popular subject on text messaging. There are many speculations with regards to the cause of what happened. And people want to hear one voice in this matter, LJ Reyes. Is she pregnant? Did Marky get death threats that caused whatever has happened? There are yet so many unanswered questions. But if the actor chose to forever hold his peace regarding the issue, let us respect that and stop all the hush-hush. I won't talk about it anymore, promise =) … well, not unless something big comes up that has to be blogged.

Brad Pitt in a recent magazine interview acknowledged that he still keeps in touch with Jennifer Aniston. He came on her defense with the negative opinions that Jen received with her "uncool" statement in a magazine interview that was blown out of proportion. As for Jen, she seems to be going fine and happy with her current flame, John Mayer. She shocked us all when she did a sexy GQ magazine cover. I wasn't ready to see my favorite "Friend" too adult and far from being Rachel Green. But she was also shocked because she admitted that it wasn't supposed to be like that. The concept that was presented to her was different from the end product.

Hmm, so what else did I miss? The local news was filled with deceits, lies and cheap issues. First up, Dingdong Dantes and Karylle split. Karylle was asked by Boy Abunda on "The Buzz" if she thinks that Dingdong's rumored girlfriend is pregnant. Karylle smiled while thinking. I was also thinking that time, where did that question come from? There wasn't even a hint or a bit of smoke regarding that. Was Boy testing how Karylle would react? Before the latter could finalize her thoughts, Boy ended the interview, making it look like the poor girl actually hinted that Marian was pregnant.

And then we saw Marian Rivera on the presscon of their movie, crying her heart out and stealing the scene from her co-stars. Was it really Karylle that brought her frustrations? Or was it the reporter who told her upfront that she is "plastikada," meaning that she is really very far from what she's trying to portray in front of the cameras.

Well, as for me, Angel Locsin looks better than Marian who looks old for her age. And Karylle seems to be smarter than her. But Marian is simply lucky. She became her home network's most precious last year. Let's see if she can hold it up to this year when Heart Evangelista appears to be a big threat to her throne on the Kapuso side of the warring networks.

As per the Kapamilya, they retained Deither Ocampo who had almost jumped over the fence last year. They still got Judy Ann Santos, but why are they hiding her? The young superstar isn't visible on any of their shows. They got Karylle… hmm, I still think that she lacks the X factor to be famous like her mom.

Oh God, I refuse to blog about the Vicki Belo-Hayden Kho-Katrina Halili circus. I'm sure you have heard of it. This is just how I look at the matter. Katrina is easy to get. Hayden is a gold digger. And Vicky Belo is very willing to be a sugar mommy (wag lang papahuli)!

Did I miss out on anything? That is the recap of the recent and not-so recent showbiz scoops since the last time I posted till this day. I hope that there will be more blog-worthy events and tsismis in the coming days. Oh please, stop featuring the broken hearted Hayden Kho and don't make him sing his sick composition to his "Vicks." If they have a problem to solve, don't let the public know about it. I'm sure they won't mind. I won't! =)

MANNY PACQUIAO, THE BATTLES HE OUGHT NOT TO BE FIGHTING

Is patriotism now in the Philippines synonymous to boxing?

Sunday here in the Philippines, October 7, Manny Pacquiao is having his “most-awaited” rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera. Why the quotes, one may ask. Well, let’s just say that I (and I know that I’m not the only one) was not really excited about the fight and did not really wait for it (for having to do more sensible things or having to watch more interesting shows than this).

Manny Pacquiao is the Philippines’ pride. I could not understand a rule of boxing but when Manny started winning and bringing home the bacon, I was proud of him. And though I didn’t like the sports, I tuned in to his every match, almost crying if he seems to be almost losing the battle, awaiting eagerly, as most Filipinos do, if he’s going to make us proud again for the nth time. And also tuning it to all television stations on his return, wanting to see how warm his welcome would be.

But those were the days.

It didn’t help that Pacquiao had the nerve to run for public office on the last election. For me, it showed that his fame had really gotten into his head. At that time, he didn’t even care to listen even to his political allies who were advising him not to run until he’s prepared to do so. And I couldn’t help but flinch whenever he was being interviewed by the media people and he couldn’t even respond professionally to the simplest question that was thrown at him – what is your plan if you’ll win.

And so he lost the battle that no one expected him to win in the first place. He entered into yet another venture – showbiz. Seeing Pacquiao on his best form in a boxing arena is a delight, but put him TV, or worse, in a film, acting, is really a sight for sore eyes. And now, he is being bombarded with all types of intrigues, like linking him to sexy star Ara Mina, saying that he has bought her a house and a luxury car.

It is not helping that his feeling-beautiful wife, Jinkee, looks like a hurting wife every time she’s being interviewed on showbiz oriented local talk shows. She should just have backed off, unless she also plans to be a showbiz personality. Oh, please!

Let us turn the focus on boxing. Mr. Manny Pacquiao should just do everything he can to improve on this craft and maybe venture out into other sports if he feels that he ought to retire from boxing. Leave showbiz to those who can act and can express themselves in a way that many people would understand them. And leave politics to those who can rule and who have the ability to make people respect them.

Pick your fights, Mr. Pacquiao, and don’t dwell on the battles that you are not supposed to be fighting, in the first place.