October 1, 1975 - Thrilla in Manila. “Philippine
President Ferdinand
Marcos offered to hold the bout in Metro
Manila and sponsor it to divert attention from the social turmoil that the
country was experiencing, having declared martial law
three years earlier (1972).” [1]
This beautiful distraction, the conclusion
of the Ali-Frazier trilogy, became one of greatest fights in 20th
century boxing. No amount of distraction derailed those who fought on.
We fight many different fights now. There
is one against the ignorance of those who think that the RH Bill is against
life. There is one against lawmakers (and plagiarists) who created laws to
limit our freedom. We fight against a
collective forgetfulness as we watch the wife of a dictator, who squandered the
nation’s wealth, shakes hands with a President who pledged to relieve
government of corruption. The senator who is believed to be the chief architect
of Martial Law looks on, flashing the smile of someone who lived long enough to
rewrite history.
The Thrilla in Manila happened over thirty
years ago today. Let’s not be distracted. Let’s never forget.
To my kindred spirits, the mediocre lower-middle
class folks who do nothing but pay taxes: raise your fists, oppose despondency and
fight on.
Wikipedia Citation:
[1] ^
Thriller
in Manila, Oregon sigs, Retrieved on 31 March 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment