Without going into the merits of the P10M libel case filed by Davao del Norte 2nd district Congressman Antonio Floirendo, Jr. against his 1st district counterpart Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez, I am just anxious as the next guy beside me where this will eventually lead to.
If this were a mixed martial art match will one side eventually tap out?
Will it lead to the capitulation of one or the other, vanquished beyond salvation? Or will it lead to a happy ending this unfinished business that began with a ‘spat over girlfriends?’
It certainly had the makings of a great match from the outset. On one side was a player basking at the height of power, rising from an obscure player at the province to an exhilarating No. 3 overall just two steps behind Digong, the king of the octagon itself.
But so exhilarating must have been this rise to power, so maddening-like the pedestal, it must have also obscured his game. In the rush to destroy the opponent, confident in the trappings of his position, he went all out on the offensive, throwing caution to the wind. What cannot be done through force, he spilled it out in venom-laced expletives to humiliate the opponent. He was not called Panti “the Destroyer” for nothing.
But he could not have chosen a more formidable opponent. Tony Boy ‘The Survivor’ was no easy picking. His stable had survived ‘Typhoon Cory’ under a more hostile circumstance. In contrast, you can say it has an inside track to Digong’s inner circle and the relationships dates even farther back.
And so as the scenes unravel, there was no takedowns, no clear dominance. There were no violent moves or hint of counter-attack, only the patient moves of one determined to stay alive, parrying the blows as they came, staying out mostly from harm’s way, looking for just the opening to sneak a haymaker.
That opportunity came from outside the ring. In a dramatic takedown witnessed by many, ‘The Destroyer” was himself stripped of the one title that he flaunted with imperious and reckless abandon. In the manner of an MMA fight, Panti was brought down to earth in one excruciating lock. There was no way out save to tap the floor to signal submission.
All of sudden, the man who appropriated one City Hall building and spent millions in one week of merry-making to entertain his guests during one birthday bash, was no longer the honcho to reckon with.
Yet it came with no surprise to those who held the view that he had it basically coming, that he was the square peg in the round holes that comprised Digong’s formidable stable. That it was only a matter of time before the law of averages takes over.
It is a messy business, this taking down of tyrants. In his place was installed ‘Typhoon Gloria’ (from the lowlands of Pangasinan and the wetlands of Pampanga) but that is another story.
With him tumbling down from his pedestal, the match with ‘The Survivor’ takes on even keel.
The fight has now shifted to the same platform; hand to hand from henceforth, man to man, pound for pound.
In a reversal of roles, Tonyboy is on counter-attack mode if the filing of the case is any indication. And that, we are told, is only for openers.
Having judged boxing matches myself for some time, I do not think the likelihood of seeing an abbreviated ending is going to happen. Indications are that it will stretch to the next year where real hostilities are likely to happen and where their positions will be at stake anew.
Hence, this on-going match between the two maybe likened to a sweetener, a preliminary, the calm before the storm.
Like others in this region I am as anxious (at times amused) as the other guy as to where it comes to an end.
Will it end in reconciliation and the mending of fences? Or will it end in the total humiliation to one and a repudiation of the other?
This much seems clear: their relationship has been severed beyond repair. No love lost there. With their respective futures at stake, it has now been transformed into a survival of the fittest. And as in all MMA fights, there can only be one winner strutting the ring.
Your commentaries and opinions on this matter are as good as ours. (30)
