Boxing Sunday
By Manny Pinol
Manny Pacquiao is not publicly expressing it but he is apparently hurting from the perception that he is washed up as a fighter following his two successive losses.
Last Tuesday, as he hit the mitts held by trainer Jonathan Penalosa at the MP Gym in Sampaloc, Manila, Pacquiao showed the intensity which marked his entire career as a boxer.
“This will be a replay of the first fight against Marco Antonio Barrera,” he told friends.
He was, of course, referring to the Nov. 15, 2003 bout against the legendary Mexican fighter in the Alamodome in Houston, Texas where Pacquiao came in as an underdog.
Displaying a fighting style likened to a whirlwind, Pacquiao clobbered and battered Barrera forcing the Mexican to quit in the 11th round.
That historic fight 10 years ago opened a new horizon for the previously unknown Pacquiao and paved the way for him to become the first eight-division world champion in the history of boxing.
As Pacquiao’s popularity grew so did the coterie of hangers on.
But with two successive losses, the number of the hangers on thinned.
Even the politicians who used to squeeze their faces into the small TV camera screen just to be seen with the greatest Filipino fighter are no longer around.
Pacquiao obviously noticed this too but the gentle person that he is, he has never said anything against people who have now abandoned him.
Preparing for his fight against American Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios, Pacquiao is showing the same intensity he displayed in his earlier fights when he was still struggling to be recognized.
On Wednesday, he went back to General Santos City where he will continue his preparation for his Nov. 24 fight in Macau.
It is a must-win fight for Pacquiao.
A victory will resuscitate his career which is now teetering at the edge of oblivion.
A sensational win could yet earn him the fight boxing fans have been dreaming of – a classic encounter with the undefeated American fighter Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
https://www.facebook.com/100044577333084/videos/329547757189937
October 6 2013
M’lang Airport Project
DO THEY REALLY WANT
TO SEE AIRPLANES LAND?
By Manny Pinol
The accusation hurled against me by former Vice Governor Jose Tuburan, Jr. that I own one half of the M’lang Airport area is part of a sinister plan to delay the completion of the most important infrastructure project implemented in North Cotabato in its entire history.
The simple truth is THEY DO NOT LIKE TO SEE THE AIRPLANES LAND IN M’LANG because the completion of the airport is a testament to the visionary governance that I started in North Cotabato.
And whether I, or they for that matter, like it or not, the M’lang Airport Project will always be identified as the Brainchild of Governor Manny Pinol.
The M’lang Airport Project, also known as the Central Mindanao Airport, is a perfect example of how dirty politics stand in the way of development.
Officially started in 2003 with the acquisition of the first half of the 64-hectare airport area from the Buenaflor/Cuerpo families of M’lang and partially completed in 2009 with the completion of the runway, the M’lang Rural Airport is now being threatened again by a malicious attempt to question the ownership of the land.
The proof that the provincial government under the incumbent Governor is not keen on seeing that the project is completed to benefit the people of North Cotabato was bared in my verbal exchange with former Vice Governor Jose Tuburan, Jr., right in the Pep’s Resort area in Balindog, Kidapawan City which he owns.
Tuburan, who has accused me of being the real owner of one half of the airport area, said that the airport property could not be titled in the name of the provincial government because there was “a prior sale.”
He was, of course, referring to an alleged Deed of Sale signed in 2003, when I was the Governor, between me and the Buenaflor/Cuerpo Families which according to him covered the first 32 hectares of the 64-hectare property.
Tuburan said since the Deed of Sale was between Emmanuel F. Pinol, without the qualification “representing the Province of North Cotabato,” and the Buenaflor/Cuerpo families, “it would appear that Pinol owns the property.”
I literally tackled Tuburan and slammed him on the floor when I told him that the dubious Provincial Technical Working Group on the M’lang Airport chaired by Cong. Jose Tejada and where the former vice governor is a member could have invited me to help shed light on questions they wanted to ask and iron out kinks.
Or they could have asked Anacleto Lagunsad, who was the focal person of the airport project when I was Governor, to give them a clearer picture of the airport project.
“I did not know where to find you,” was Tuburan’s answer which was of course a big fat lie because my farm in Barangay Paco, Kidapawan City is only about 3 kilometers away from his resort/events area called Pep’s in Barangay Balindog.
Here is another proof that the issue raised by Tuburan that I own half of the airport area is part of a grand plan to create a legal problem to delay the airport project:
When I arrived last Friday morning in the Kidapawan City Police Station to officially request that the incident where I was maligned by Tuburan and the two commentators of Radio Station DXCA on air be recorded in the police blotter, a team of policemen was being readied to proceed to Tuburan’s Pep’s Resort Area.
The order came from no less the Provincial Police Director who said that I was on my way to Tuburan’s place to confront him.
The intriguing questions are:
- Who knew I was going to Tuburan’s place to confront him about his accusations against me?
It was only my brother, retired colonel Pat, and the commentators of DXCA because I told them through my brother’s speaker phone that I will confront Tuburan about his accusation.
- Who relayed the information to the top official of the province that I was on my way to Tuburan’s place?
Definitely, the DXCA commentators because aside from my brother, they were the only ones who knew about it.
- Who ordered the Provincial Director to dispatch a team of policemen to “protect” Tuburan?
The Provincial Director will only act that fast if he is ordered by a higher official in the province. Who is that official? Your guess is as good as mine.
They were not fast enough though. Even before the police quick response team was formed and dispatched, I was already at the police station filing my official complaint.
The evil plan here is to delay the completion of the airport by creating legal problems like questioning the ownership of the airport area.
Yesterday, M’lang Mayor Lito Pinol, my younger brother, told me that the contractor working on the project could not start the fencing of the whole airport area because they could not locate the concrete markers delineating the 62-hectare airport site from the Hacienda Buenaflor.
I would like to see the M’lang Airport completed by the end of 2014 as scheduled, so here is my dare to Tuburan and his puppet master at the provincial capitol:
I have no document or proof whatsoever to present that I “own” one half of the airport area as Tuburan claims but if Tuburan and his cohorts insist that I indeed own half of the airport, I dare them to make it official.
I dare Tuburan to tell the Governor and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of North Cotabato to officially declare and acknowledge that former governor Emmanuel F. Pinol is the real owner of one half of the airport area.
Once they are able to prove that I indeed own the property, I promise, with over 48,000 followers of this page, my entire family and God as my witness, I will immediately turn over the property to the Department of Transportation and Communication through an Absolute Deed of Donation so that the airport will be finally completed.
If they cannot prove it, they better prepare for the long haul because I will seek justice for the pain and anguish they have caused my family to suffer because of their slanderous accusations.
(Photo caption: Photo of trucks deployed in the construction of the M’lang Airport grabbed from the facebook page of Vincente Torreja and taken recently by Mary Ann Cortado.)
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