INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines ? The wet market crowd on Thursday was vibrant and excited, everybody visibly feeling victorious as though this was a morning after a big, big win by superhero Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.

The day felt light and sunny, a sweet start to something good.

Noynoy Aquino was officially proclaimed the country?s next president the day before.

But, no, that was not the main source of the delight and gladness around.

People were quietly rejoicing, stunned by a gift of a national leader who had been cruelly pictured as inept and incompetent.

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?Dami niyang binitawang pamatay na suntok (He threw many knockout punches),? observed councilor-elect Louie Espinosa of the first district of Mandaluyong.

Espinosa, popularly known as Action Man Kapitan Luwi, was similarly amazed about Noynoy Aquino, whose candidacy he had supported in a teamup with Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr.

Kapitan Luwi was referring to the press conference held by Aquino after his proclamation.

In that candid, free-swinging session, the president-elect dropped stinging one-liners which, more or less, demonstrated how he would lead as honestly and competently as he could.

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?He?s the best answer or revenge to the devil,? said Irene Valenton of the Lotus Foundation yesterday from Lipa City where she was helping facilitate assistance to cancer-stricken kids in coordination with the Cancer Warriors Foundation.

?There?s hope now in the Philippines because I believe we are entering a new era,? she added. ?We must cover him in prayer because the dark forces of evil will resist him.?

?He was truly inspiring and very candid,? said Dr. Leny Lintad, a tested, competent dermatologist at St. Luke?s Medical Center in Quezon City.

What truly struck her, Dr. Lintad said, was Aquino?s deep spirituality.

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There could be doubts on Noynoy?s pronouncements if they were, say, made in his forthcoming inauguration on July 1.

But all the gems poured spontaneously on Thursday, with neither prompter nor reference.

There was, for example, this one against the bad practice of second-guessing problems and solutions.

Said P-Noy: ?Wrong identification of problems leads to wrong solutions.?

He also offered his hand in sincere reconciliation:

?So long as we are working for the betterment of the people, I don?t see why we should be engaging in conflict that does not produce tangible positive results (for the people).?

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As could be expected, there were countless others who were surprised by the advance unveiling of our next president.

These should include the people from the party and agency which had sent this text message when Noynoy started to pull away from the pack at the height of the poll campaign:

?Just now, Noynoy had an epileptic attack at their Isabela rally. The car Noynoy was riding belongs to the brod of the informant.? Tel. cell no. +639065746879.

A surprise package, indeed, was how Noynoy Aquino struck the masa in that quickie presscon.

The result: Noynoy, just like Pacquiao, has been embraced as a People?s Champ.

And to think that Ninoy and Cory?s son has yet to fight his first big fight.