The advisory was curt and sharp: Individuals who have no medical background should refrain from giving opinions especially if they do not have the medical records and experience.
It was issued by a second publicist in the Manny Pacquiao camp, quoting an unidentified physician. The notice became a necessity following the confusion caused by a report about an alleged serious heart ailment that had supposedly caused the legendary Filipino boxing super hero to risk his life in his recent world championship fight in Kuala Lumpur.
That report, by Pacquiao PIO Aquiles Zonio, was denied and dumped after Pacquiao’s trouble-free conquest of the WBA welterweight crown in Kuala Lumpur on July 15.
In the Zonio report, Pacquiao had supposedly undergone emergency angiogram procedure, wherein it was allegedly established Pacquiao had a life-threatening heart ailment. Zonio had reported Pacquiao was made to sign a waiver at Cardinal Santos Medical Center, before he was allowed to depart for Kuala Lumpur on July 9.
Team Pacquiao said it was a false report.
“I’m okay; I feel fine (and) I thank God for giving me strength every day,” Pacquiao exclaimed in a meeting with friends from the media last weekend.
He appeared with wife Jinkee, both of them in radiant red shirts.
Pacquiao would quip that if the doctors found something in his heart, it must be the word Jinkee, referring to his wife’s name tattooed on his left chest.
Actually, the heart ailment, if it had been confirmed, would’ve severely endangered or promptly ended Pacquiao’s boxing career.
It was, of course, a big puzzle how the confusion in the Pacquiao public information setup happened.
In his report, Zonio had quoted Paquiao as saying “those who were with me were saddened and crying and I told them, ‘don’t worry I’ll be OK, I will do everything to win the fight.’”
Zonio singled out trainer Buboy Fernandez among the most disheartened in the Pacquiao staff over results of the heart checkup.
Did Zonio become too much of an aspirant fictionist?
The poor fellow, survivor of the frightening Mindanao Massacre, has conveniently evaporated.