Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE GREATEST AND THE PACMAN
Boxing has been a Filipino passion for over one hundred years. Ferdinand Marcos capitalized
on the nation's love of the sport by using government money to finance the “
Thrilla in
Manila
” in 1975, a notoriously brutal encounter between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier often
ranked as one of the greatest fights of twentieth-century boxing. Fought at the Araneta
Coliseum in Quezon City, Ali won in the 15th and final round. The beneficent Marcos even
stumped up the cash for the fight's multimillion-dollar purse.
Filipinos have never made it in the high-profile heavyweight game, but in the lighter
divisions they've excelled. In recent years, one name stands out in particular:
Manny
“the Pacman” Pacquiao
(b.1978), the poor boy from Mindanao who became world super
featherweight champion, made a movie, made millions and was the first boxer in history to
win ten world titles in eight different weight divisions (he's current super welterweight
champ). In probably his most famous bout, he defeated Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas
in 2008, in what was dubbed the “Dream Match”. In 2010 Pacquiao was elected to the
House of Representatives, representing the province of Sarangani, fuelling rumours about
his
political ambition
; it's conceivable he could stand for higher o
ce once he retires
from boxing.
Macapagal-Arroyo: the politics of the elite
The presidency of
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
(b.1947) proved slightly less dramatic than
her predecessors, but just as divisive. During her two terms in o
ce, Macapagal-Arroyo
made great play of her economic prowess and the fact that she was an assiduous
administrator, not a flamboyant but empty figurehead. The first years of her presidency
were solid if unspectacular, her main priority simply to survive and bring some level of
stability. The House of Representatives and Senate were bitterly divided along pro- and
anti-Estrada lines, with the two main parties unable to agree on anything. It was not
until 2007 that Estrada was finally found guilty of plunder, but was promptly
pardoned by the president.
After winning her second term in 2004, things started to unravel for Macapagal-
Arroyo; she was accused of vote-rigging, though two attempts to impeach her failed.
In 2006 an army plot led to a state of emergency being implemented across the
country. On the economy - her strong suit - the president could claim some
success, with GDP growth rates over five percent a year the strongest in decades,
though critics claimed the figures were inaccurate, and in any case, had failed to
improve the lives of poorer citizens.
In Mindanao, things looked even worse. A new terrorist organization,
Abu Sayyaf
,
emerged on Basilan Island, thought to be responsible for the bombing of
Superferry 14
in February 2004, which sank with 116 dead. In 2008 the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front launched new attacks on government troops after the Supreme Court ruled that
a deal offering them large areas of the south went against the constitution. Finally,
57 people (including 34 journalists) were murdered in 2009 in what was dubbed the
Maguindinao Massacre
, part of a local “clan” war at election time.
Macapagal-Arroyo's term finished in 2010, marred by claims of cronyism,
extrajudicial killings, torture and illegal arrests; corruption still ran unchecked, and
the gap between the impoverished and a thin layer of super-wealthy had grown ever
wider, with the dirt-poor growing in numbers and wretchedness, accounting
2001
2005
2009
2010
EDSA II: Estrada is
replaced by his vice-
president, Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo
The influential
cardinal Jaime
Sin dies
Maguindanao
massacre; 57
people killed in
Mindanao
Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino
becomes president;
Imelda Marcos is elected
to Congress
