Not yet time

By: Alex P. Vidal

“I just try to play every game like it’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals.” – Kawhi Leonard

THERE are two big events outside the country that can make us all forget our worries temporarily: the fights of Senator Manny Pacquiao and the NBA Finals.

Miss Universe comes next–only if we feel that our candidate has a strong chance of bagging the crown.

During the Toronto Raptors’ failed bid to capture its first NBA crown on Monday (June 10) in Toronto with a hairline defeat to the Golden State Warriors, 105-106, we were all again glued to our TV screens.

We forgot the traffic woes, dengue fever, water crisis, peso-US dollar exchange rate, post-election controversies, same-sex marriage and abortion debates, rebel returnees, anti-drug raids, etcetera.

 

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After the Warriors closed the best-of-seven series gap at 3-2, we’re back to reality. It’s not yet time.

If the Raptors can finish the job in Game 6, no one can tell. If the Warriors can extend their agony and capitulate in Game 7, it will be anybody’s guess. If the Warriors can retain the crown, it remains to be seen. For the meantime, life must go on for Filipino fans.

Whether it is Warriors or Raptors, the result will have no direct economic or political impact in our life as a basketball-crazy country.

But the NBA Finals, like when we watch Pacquaio dismantle his Mexican and American opponents in the ring, have the capacity to make us all happy and united.

 

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We should not feel bad that New York City accommodated the 62nd Puerto Rico National Day Parade on Fifth Avenue on June 10, 2019 but continued to “separate” the annual Philippine Independence Day Parade in the Madison Avenue.

We should be happy that, at least, we are allowed to use one of Manhattan’s most popular and historic avenues for our Independence Day parade consistently for several years now.

Not all countries affiliated with the United Nations (UN) are given the golden opportunity to showcase their cultural and religious wealth and potentials before an American audience on an American land.

We are not the only country assigned in the spacious Madison Avenue. The Greek Independence Day Parade in March, the Persian Parade in April, and the India Parade in August, among other cultural and national parades, also saunter in the Madison Avenue which is only a block away from the more preferred and most favorite Fifth Avenue.

Assigned for their parades on Fifth Avenue are: Celebrate Israel Parade in May, St. Patrick’s Day Parade in March, German-American Steuben Parade in September,  Columbus Day Parade in October, and Korean Day Parade in October.

 

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I’ve noticed that media practitioners in Iloilo were divided on their opinion about the recent arrest of former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel “Boy” Mejorada for five counts of cyber libel filed by Iloilo Governor Arthur “Art” Defensor Sr.

Not all of Mejorada’s colleagues came out in the open to defend him or lash at the manner of his arrest. Some of them probably expressed their “concerns” through text and private messages.

But there were some of Mejorada’s former media colleagues who hailed his arrest and congratulated the arresting police team led by Major Jonathan Pinuela.

In the social media, meanwhile, netizens mostly sympathetic to Mejorada’s adversaries like Senator Franklin Drilon and Defensor, ripped apart Mejorada like he was a despicable person.

After securing a temporary freedom from the court, Mejorada refused to lick his wounds in silence. He used his social media accounts to lambast all those responsible for what happened to him on Friday (June 7).

 (The author, who is now based in New York City, is a former editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)