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Only Manny Pacquiao cleared the streets of traffic, apart from corona and not any self-appointed messiah. But the greatest Filipino boxer does it for twelve rounds or less, while the virus and the way it is handled have for months holed us up to safety in our place of privacy.

On paper, Pacquiao is one of the two billionaires in the Senate, having earned his fortune by uniting the nation to watch his fights and the other by subdividing some parts of it. A hungry baker turned world champion in eight divisions, Pacman is Gabriel Elorde resurrected, if not the flash perfected.

A one in a billion success story, he earned billions in prize money and endorsement deals. Other great Filipino boxers before him earned quite a fortune too, but either lost it or is yet to receive part of it.

Rolando Navarette, the Bad Boy from Dadiangas, won the world featherweight crown twice and became the toast of Philippine boxing. But his bad choices rewrote his story from rags to riches to nothing. He was so good for being bad in the ring, and in ugly street brawls, but for nothing. Navarette not only lost his fame and fortune, even his family and at some time his freedom for rape. Broke and broken, the fighter who knocked out his foes is knocked down in life. The fairy tale ended a sob story for a guy who brought us national glory.

Luisito Espinosa is another boxer with humble beginnings in the slums of Tondo, Manila where life is poor, and sad. But he looked for the beauty in it and found the silver lining to claim the Golden Boy title after he won world crowns in two divisions. 

He has not lost all his earnings though. In fact, he has not received everything. He waited for almost two decades to have a clear chance to finally receive the uncollected balance of his prize money, after the court ordered the heirs of his promoter to give him what is rightfully his.

But Manny Pacquiao doesn’t get them whole either. Whether he likes it or not, he cedes substantial part of his earnings to taxes. It is one of the two certainties in life, the other everyone meets, sooner or later. But to him taxes don’t matter, it leaves his purse bulging just the same, win or lose. He earns more than enough to support him beyond his lifetime, including spousal lifestyle.

But while it matters to us ordinary taxpayers, we only hurt at the time we pay taxes or at the moment our pay slips tell us how much tax is withheld. No problem, that is inherent in government, except when it is stolen. But even if it is, we don’t care where it goes, whether bad service in return or lost to corruption.

Such indifferent culture is carcass to a vulture. No, not vultures, they at least wait for their victim to die before they devour. The thieves eat us alive, or worse, while dying, like when insurance for health becomes their assurance for wealth.