MANILA, Philippines—They’re trying to bully and push Manny Pacquiao against the ropes ahead of his monumental match against Oscar De La Hoya, thus making it incumbent upon self-respecting Filipinos to come to the side of the national sports treasure.

Pacquiao, battle-scarred, could take all these dirty shots, smile, and spit them out.

But, as he has decided to summit a private Everest for the glory of the Filipino race, we should not allow these filthy assaults go unanswered.

The call of the moment is to insulate (Pacquiao) and fire back.

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Try this dig, definitely below the belt, posted at the Internet on Wednesday: “After Oscar (De La Hoya) hurts Pacquiao with a left hook to the brain, you will see the Filipino doing the crackhead dance. He might do the Zab Judah crackhead dance mixed with some Thomas Hearns wobbly, wobbly. It will be great to see that.”

That diatribe was courtesy of BoxingConfidential.com executive editor Ricardo Lois.

The offender, who must’ve banged his head blind against the wall too many times, definitely knows how a busted coconut behaves.

“This will make up for what we’ve had to put up with Pacmaniacs over the years,” Lois, wobbly-wobbly, added. “It will be great seeing Oscar knock Pacquiao out in three rounds.”

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Why Lois, who should’ve first shed his title as executive editor before going wild, had to go foul in order to hit back at so-called Pacmaniacs, exposes the prevailing frustration of self-styled experts whose favorite fighters Pacquiao has either humbled or crushed en route to the “biggest fight of my life” against De La Hoya.

Majority of these boxing critics have since nodded and say, yes, Pacquiao is the finest pound-for-pound warrior in the world.

Bob Arum, for one, was a lead Pacquiao disbeliever, swearing a couple of days before the Pacman’s third encounter with Erik Morales that “my boy will kill Pacquiao.”

Arum, in the run-up to that concluding bout, hardly ran out of words in dismissing Pacquiao’s worth.

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How Arum has surrendered and embraced Pacquiao like a favorite son is prizefight history.

Anyway, as Arum has been helping sell the Dream Match between Pacquioa and De La Hoya, the esteemed promoter should be told that there’s a growing anti-Pacquiao campaign.

The move to belittle Pacquiao could actually be double-edged.

Maybe it’s part of the campaign to lure more fans into driving to Las Vegas on Dec. 6 or buying pay-per-view slots.

The other attempt, definitely more believable, is the move to prick Pacquiao’s pride.

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Listen, please: If to a bullfight, they are trying to gore and bleed Pacquiao to further enrage him.

The idea is for the Pacman to lose focus, snort like a bleeding bull and, hopefully, go wild in trying to soothe his bruised pride during the fight.

Pacquiao must be warned against falling into the same trap that cost him his first fight with Morales.

In that bout, Pacquiao practically went blind and jumpstarted as he raced and raged for an outright knockout, all the while thinking he could overrun the opponent.

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Look, trainer Freddie Roach continues to claim that Pacquiao would prevail riding on superior speed, power and stamina.

But, equal to these gifts, Pacquiao could enhance victory only if he loads up on patience and humility.

He must work equally hard on defense and, just like to the great bamboo, be resilient and sway in order to succeed.

More than sheer firepower, his ability to protect himself and survive should spell ultimate triumph.

The Pacman must not allow himself to be bullied against the ropes ahead of his biggest fight.

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(STRONG MEMO: Raymond Celis, RP Junior Women’s basketball coach, has received this reminder from national basketball executive director Noli Eala: “I observe that your feud with the team manager has gotten from bad to worse. I know you have your own thinking about this training issue. However, I’m afraid there are certain imperatives that you need to follow. One of them is the limitations imposed by your team manager and the program. I was hoping on your own you would find a way to accommodate the wishes of your sponsor but, to date, what has happened was more conflict and hardening of positions. This being the situation, I enjoin you one last time to accede to the program imposed by your manager unless you can come up with an acceptable compromise with Cynthia Tiu, also our sponsor, on this matter. Otherwise, much to my regret, I will have no recourse but to look for a solution that may not include you.”)