As an 80s kid, me and my sister were graced to experience our first home video gaming from Atari. It was a gift from our cousins. We only had two games to play with, one was Pac-man, and the other one was E.T. The yellow pizza-shaped character and the movie were both 80s phenomena among others. We had a blast playing Pac-man, even though it was just the only game we could play, for we have no idea what the E.T. game was all about and how to win it. I’m sure a lot of kids in our age back then had fun and were addicted to the Pac-man game. But at these present times, there’s a certain Pacman that gives us Filipinos a different high, enjoyment and pride… and it is not the Pac-man that gobbles up the yellow pellets and the ghost assailants of the 80s.

I’m talking about Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, the Pacman that is now a local hero in the country. He once again triumphs a boxing match recently, this time against the Golden Boy, Oscar dela Hoya. Once more, the country had paused in its usual business that day of their fight, and everybody was glued in their TV sets watching at home, some in theaters, some in stadiums, and some on specific public localities nationwide. Crime rate was zero, roads were empty and the outside scenery in every city was like a ghost town. That is how big and grand Manny is in the eyes of the Filipinos, Filipinos here in the country as well as abroad.

Yes, he is a hero. He is the hero of today that the country admires, and I suppose what we Filipinos need. I for one admire his patriotism that I feel comparable to the list of heroes the country has, and maybe more. I admire his passion in his sport and his will to win, and more than that, he is not ashamed of, and he always broadcasts where he came from, what he fights for, and who he is - a Filipino (which is a lot us are ashamed of, especially the ones not in the country). I think that is what we as a nation, as citizens of this country lacks. Every Pinoy is trying to be somebody other than being a Filipino. We are succumbed in a psywar ever since time immemorial. The loud whispers of the egotist, power grabbing, evil narcissist of a nation, who wants everything for themselves, even if it means destruction of peace, homes and lives of others, including us, are echoing in this country, that we are a lesser race than they are, that we are incapable of anything, that we have no right to be. And we have never recovered from it. I don’t think we are even aware of it, or the gravity of it.

We are like a pack of hungry dogs which are being teased of a bone dangling right under our noses but would never get a piece. If ever a bone shall be thrown, you can just imagine how cruel that picture is. Who are the ones savoring that single piece of bone? Only a few, and there’s no way of sharing it, that’s for sure. Today, everybody is just trying to hassle, battling for a glimpse of what life is or what it should be. Everybody is trying to struggle on their own caring only for themselves and not seeing the big picture of what we as a nation could be and do. We are being manipulated like pieces in chess. But I know we can do a lot more to prosper, only if we can be as one nation free from that lingering psywar whispers. And as a new hero, a new character that plays a new game emerges among us, as a new national symbol, I see a chance to educate us Pinoys to be who we should be and to know who we really are, and sway the tides in a different direction. We must shut out that voice of destruction and hear a new hymn of progress in our land. We must make the country rise to its potential and flourish to what it was before or even more.

What we have become is what the history entailed in us. This is what we must all see, open our eyes and stay wide awake from that moment on. This is what I want for the new game of the new Pacman that is a new phenomenon today, not just here in the Philippines but around the globe to cast upon us. I want him to gobble more than what he can, not just for himself, but also for the rest of us Pinoys. I want this new Pacman phenomenon extends itself to a higher goal, and hopefully for us to grasp its meaning, learn from it and start moving. Maybe someday we can gobble up some of those yellow pellets for ourselves and for the country. But like the game, there are a few ‘ghosts’ hovering to our new hero, ghosts that could make Pacman fades its color and glory to its demise. They are visible at every game. They are seen or want to be seen with our hero inside the four corners of the ring. I hope that Pacman overcomes this fight outside the ring which is his kingdom. This fight does not end in twelve rounds but a lifetime, and I do not want to watch my hero, my new Pacman to be defeated by those hovering political ‘ghosts’ and see the words GAME OVER on the screen of this cruel game.

I’m a Filipino, I loved Pac-man and I root for Pacman now. Even though there are a few who look at this phenomenon as a circus and waiting for it to just come to pass already, I on the other hand, am waiting for another bout of the Pacman.