An urgent anti-PEDs memo
BOXING expert Hermie Rivera, back in town, has written a letter hitting at users of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in sports. He has suggested that the letter be developed into a column item. That letter is being printed in full. Kindly share it.
* * *
Kumpadre, maybe we can start by developing a theme on what we had started calling Da Coup of Gringo.
Please remind your readers that our crusade against performance-enhancing drugs was started immediately after the third encounter between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, where debris rained into the ring after a hectic 12-round thriller won by MP over a drug-administered challenger who was primed for the first time by a chemist that flagrantly ruined the former Olympic darling Marion Jones.
He is Guillermo “Memo” Hernandez aka Angel Heredia, best described as an outstanding chemist for undesirable qualities that’s remarkably baaaad! Shades of Chemical Ali, executed for engaging in chemical warfare, a field general of Saddam Hussein of the bygone Iraq war.
* * *
But that’s another strife.
As you had noted, Manny never had trouble in his first two fights against Marquez because the Guadalajaran checked in clean. But Manny’s Calvary started in his third fight with JuanMa.
Then in the 4th Encuentro, Memo had visibly perfected what was lacking in his secret concoction that ultimately led to our great batikang at dakilang Diputado ng Sarangani to fall and sleep on the floor.
FLASHBACK: Sometime in 2011, despite our expressed objection (sino nga naman tayo?) against a deal involving billions in Philippine pesos, Bob Arum was able to ram through MP/JMM 4th, 2012, Dec. 8 to be exact, and the dreadful thing happened.
* * *
By the way, it was in 2011 when our friend Senador Gregorio Honasan started his crusade against Power Enhancing Druggers.
Coincidentally, the 3 bodies (USADA, WADA, VADA) went on a war mode following the admission of Lance Armstrong on the use of banned substances and procedures. Even the renowned 60 Minutes was in the mix (to borrow an idiomatic expression) going after proponents of the nefarious drug menace that’s plaguing sportsdom planet-wide.
Meanwhile, there’s a mad scramble among Pacquiao’s group of advisors to inveigle Manny into approving their chosen bet in his first comeback fight. (Parang hilong trumpo itong mga sipsip na si ganito ang karapatdapat, si ganeri ay pwedeng-pwede forgetting that the Pacman himself has ordered (owing to the off-year elections) to keep their traps shut when it comes to matters pertaining to his next fight. If ever it comes to pass, these kibitzers have their own proposals and agenda, replete with purses etc.
* * *
Oh yes, whatever happened to the order decreed by the grand pooh-bah of Top Rank promotions, the 81-year-old Bob Arum, who insisted that under no uncertain terms MP should consider returning to the ring without first undergoing a thorough neurological test at the famed Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas?
Allow me to recount an incident that’s germaine in our discussions. On their way to Manny’s suite at The Hotel prior to Pac-Mar 4, a failed lawyer, in tandem with the guy dubbed Mr. Weed (having resided in the state that first legalized marijuana) was asking why Manny was getting the shorter end of the stick when it came to partitioning what’s left of the purse in MP’s last fight.
Unbeknownst to the scheming duo, they were taped and transcript follows: MK: “I DON’T BELIEVE WE WERE NOT SHOWN ALL OF THESE DEDUCTIONS WHEN WE WENT THROUGH THE FINANCIALS. MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST BUY OUT BOB’S EXTENDED CONTRACT.’
(They claimed they have two moneyed backers ready and raring to buy out the remainder of Arum’s contract with Manny).
Now, the question is: Shouldn’t they hang these two crooks (par excellence) and let Gringo Honasan complete and submit his bill against PEDs in the Senate?
My answer: Yes, yes, yes, by all means. But let’s first send Gringo back to the Senate if we are to score a complete victory over PEDs and the perpetrators, the durogistas.
