Forget Marquez and Floyd Mayweather. Manny’s brawl with the Philippines Bureau of Internal Robbery is now turning out to be his biggest fight to date. The circumstances of the freezing of his assets, the lien on his house in Forbes is turning out to be a blessing in disguise because it brings a whole lot of issues to the forefront of the national debate on how to move the Philippines towards more inclusive growth.
Here are the myriad issues:
1. The Power of Hard Work and Determination
Manny was a young poor stowaway who became a construction worker in Manila. He has faced and prevailed over extreme hardship. As a migrant construction worker, he often slept in a carton box. He practically begged for soup from the carinderias because he can only afford rice. He was virtually all skin and bones. He stumbled into boxing and the rest is history. He is truly a self-made man. He did not rely on government subsidies or on any government welfare program at that. Whatever wealth he acquired was through his own effort – his blood, sweat, and tears.
Contrast that to the typical pathway of the Philippine elite which is by way of behest loans, government awarded contracts, government subsidies and protection.
Manny’s life shows the poor that they too don’t have to depend on government. That they too, have the ability to face hardship and overcome it by their own will and effort. That they too, don’t have to sell their souls to government in order to thrive and prosper. This is an uplifting story for the poor – but it threatens those who have plundered in the name of the poor.
Manny’s story is a threat to a government which tries to make people dependent on the CCT subsidy, the RH Bill, and whatever scams government can cook up under the guise of “helping the poor”.
2. The Tyranny and Burden of Taxation
Today, the Philippine government is behaving as if they own Manny Pacquiao. What makes the Philippine government feel entitled to a share of Manny’s income? Were they the ones who took the risks, took the dive, spent the long hours honing the boxing prowess? Did they spend for Manny’s food, clothing, and shelter? Where were they when Manny was nobody? They were nowhere.
Just like Manny – practically all of us average Joes – local or overseas took the risks, invested our time, persevered – without any government assistance. And just like Manny – all of us have to cough up income taxes, withholding taxes, sales taxes and whatever fees and impositions the government can think of.
The imposition of the freeze orders, the liens and garnishments are being done using the raw coercive power of the state.
The common attitude is that Manny should pay his fair share to government – just like the rest of us. I beg to dsagree with that statement. I say – the government is not entitled to any share in anybody’s income – including Manny’s.
That our incomes are being taken away from us – without our consent, is plain unadulterated tyranny.
3. The Dangers of Big Government
The justification for the plunder is that taxes is the lifeblood of government.
Well, income is the lifeblood of the people. When government takes away our income, like a vampire – government drains our lifeblood. Our income which could have been alloted for our health, education, shelter, clothing, retirement, and investments no longer becomes accessible to us. By draining our lifeblood – government kills us softly.
A government is supposed to protect the people – not drain the lifeblood of the people.
Today, we face a government that has not delivered the “public services” expected of it. In surrendering our power to make the choice ourselves to government, we now face the consequences of not exercising our responsibility, our moral obligation, our duty to be the captains of our souls – and for that, we are damned.
We face a DSWD that imposes itself on how people choose to donate their monies; a DTI that destroys businesses; a Customs that delays and raises the cost of the flow of goods and services to consumers; a COA that no longer audits but is more concerned on its kupits; a DOE that services power outages; a DOTC that consistently has the worst airport in the world; a Congress that blatantly violates the constitution; a COMELEC that has not presented the 2010 digital election returns; a DepEd that churns out graduates ill-equipt to compete and innovate in a global economy; a DA that consistently gives small farmers low farm gate prices while subsidizing big agricultural companies; a DOH that is more concerned with giving free condoms and sin taxes while Filipino’s get universal lousy health care.
And yet, we expect that the answer to all these failures of government, is another form of government? Putting lipstick on a pig does not make it any less of a pig. A fart by any other name, stinks just the same.
4. The Categorical Imperative to Advance the Cause of Individual Freedom
What all these leads to is the fact that our individual freedoms to pursue our personal happiness – with the resources we worked for, strived for – has been trampled upon by the very institution that we created to protect our freedoms.
To say that these institutions have failed us is an understatement.
But the deeper implication is that we failed ourselves because we defaulted on our moral responsibility to be our own soul’s keeper.
And yet, in these darkest of times – this could mean that we will soon see the light at the end of the tunnel. But if and only if – each and everyone of us stepped up to the challenge of learning to take care of ourselves, of remembering who we are – we are the source of the power from which government derives its authority. And even as we have given power to this government, we can also take this power back, restore our liberties and rebuild our lives.
Yes it is scary to fight this behemoth, this Frankenstein that we created. One way or another, we are all going to die – we can choose to die as free men or as slaves of government. Let it not be said that when our country needed us most – we chose to keep silent, for in silence we have condemned ourselves to a hellish fate.
The challenge therefore is for each and everyone to let their light shine, to be a beacon of freedom and love, so that our fellow men wake up from the stupor that has been induced upon them – we can be no less.
Epilogue
Manny’s fight against his foes in the ring is nothing when compared to the array of vested interests and the criminal syndicate which calls itself the government of the Philippines.
This is not my government – I didn’t vote for it. I didn’t choose it. I never consented to its plunder. Recall that in 2010, the COMELEC was not able to present the 2010 digital election returns prompting the Teddy Locsin, who at that time was the Chair of the House Committee on Suffrage to declare that it’s like we didn’t conduct elections as all.
During that time (2010 elections), we had the choice to invalidate the elections and start all over again, but we shirked from it because we thought that repeating the elections will be costly. The first three years of Noynoy Aquino has shown us that it was costlier – to the tune of trillions of pesos – to turn our eyes away. In the process we have allowed a criminal gang to usurp public authority. It is the height of our insanity to expect that a criminal gang will not behave as criminals. I also believe that it will be more insane to let this criminal government to continue with its impunity and make a mockery of the law.
Indeed when the law has become a tool of injustice, we have a moral obligation to set it right. No one else can reclaim our freedom except ourselves. We are the ones who gave it away, we are the ones who have to take it back.
As Manny enters this arena, may he once more be the people’s champion and fight, not just the fight of his life – but for all the Filipinos whose lives have been drained by this vampire government. In this fight,we, the Filipino people should not just be Manny’s spectators, but comrades in arms as well, down to the last man standing.
When that time comes, this time around each Filipino will be a champion for himself – and that is something I can be truly proud of – not just as a Filipino but as a human being.
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