Congress’ moral support for Pacquiao superfluous

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte justified the Las Vegas trip of some 40 congressmen as their way of giving moral support to their colleague, Rep. Manny Pacquiao. Hogwash! Moral support is the least that Pacquiao needs. He has already his family, his Team Pacquiao, his thousands of Filipino-American fans in the United States, his official Pacquiao shuttle Greyhound bus, not to mention TV celebrities rooting for him. Pacquiao can claim as much moral support as Jessica Sanchez. It is therefore naïve of Belmonte to try to fool the public with that “moral support” line of reasoning. Call a spade a spade, Mr. Speaker.

Better for Belmonte to talk of the moral obligation of these public servants to their constituents. Congressmen can easily divert a portion of their pork barrel to the schooling needs of their respective districts: classrooms, desks, books, teachers’ chalk and writing boards. Whether they will spend their own dollars in this excursion is a nonissue because, to be sure, they are spending the people’s time. Besides, what does a congressman—away from his wife—do before and after the fight? Your guess is as good as mine: gamble, splurge into shopping sprees (some with a “bilmoko” mistress) and, of course, there’s that happy ending in their hotel rooms with hookers who are just a page away in the telephone directory. The media should send their paparazzi to Las Vegas and record on camera what these junketeers do out there.

We appreciate the need of congressmen for entertainment. So why doesn’t Belmonte lead the procurement of a giant screen right inside the plenary hall? Invite the public to view the fight with their congressmen. So much the better.

—POMPEYO S. PEDROCHE,

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