INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines -- Instead of joining their peers in a widely criticized junket to Las Vegas for the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto bout, some politicians settled for the pay-per-view broadcast in the cozy company of their constituents.

After years of catching Pacquiao fights in the United States, Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella said he just decided to sponsor a public viewing of Pacquiao’s latest ring conquest, to which he invited barangay officials, youth leaders and political supporters, including victims of a recent fire.

The Visayan congressman earlier said he was skipping the Vegas trip in the wake of a massive fire that killed 17 people in a boarding house and destroyed some 50 homes in his city on Nov. 2.

Puentevella said Sunday’s viewing, which was held at his congressional office in Bacolod, added cheer to the birthday celebration of his son, Monico Jr.

And although he was nowhere near ringside at the MGM Grand Arena, the lawmaker said he still managed to “cover” the fight for a local radio station.

The congressman, who concurrently chairs the Philippine Olympic Committee, said he gave blow-by-blow accounts of what he saw on TV via phone patch over Radyo Bombo.

Since he has always been part of Pacquiao’s cheering squad in his previous fights in the United States, Puentevella said he personally had to explain to the Filipino ring icon why he could not join him on Sunday.

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, who last week announced plans to run for the Senate, said he saw the fight at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, where the live broadcast was opened to the public free of charge.

Sharing the crowd’s jubilation over Pacquiao’s 12-round demolition of his Puerto Rican foe, Ocampo said the victory could easily earn votes for the boxing hero should he reenter politics.

Pacquiao lost in the congressional race in South Cotabato in 2007. The hugely popular athlete, who now has a thriving show biz career on the side, reportedly plans to take another crack at a House seat to represent Sarangani province in the May elections next year.

“Yes, such superb performance can easily get the votes for Pacquiao if he runs for public office,” Ocampo said. “But that does not necessarily mean he should run, or that it would make him a good legislator or public executive.”

Ocampo and Puentevella were, therefore, not among the targets of militant groups who assailed top government officials and legislators who flew to Las Vegas to watch the blockbuster fight.

Antonio Tinio, national chair of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), said “it would have been better if they had just donated the small fortunes they spent traveling to Las Vegas to victims of ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng,’ the killer storms that ravaged the country over the last two months.

“They should be aware that there will be a huge public backlash against politicians who will try to bask in Manny’s limelight,” Tinio warned.

Among those who flew to Las Vegas for the fight were Vice President Noli de Castro and a number of lawmakers led by Speaker Prospero Nograles, the group noted.

Teachers’ Dignity Coalition chair Benjo Basas criticized lawmakers “who left their posts and the stacks of legislative work undone supposedly to give moral support to Manny whose fights have become national events.”

“We ask these supposedly honorable men to get back to work immediately after the bout and pass social legislation that would boost the morale of the Filipino people, including both boxers and nonboxers,” Basas told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Other militant groups like the League of Filipino Students, Anakbayan and the National Union of Students of the Philippines earlier protested the so-called “pleasure trips” taken by the lawmakers.

With a report from Jerry E. Esplanada