A MISTAKE MADE HIM A BIGGER MAN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 06 Apr 2010
Manny V. Pangilinan.
Businessman-sportsman Manny Pangilinan demonstrated his genuine class and remarkable dignity in the manner in which he responded to what must surely be considered an honest mistake over a speech he delivered at Ateneo.
Rather than blame his speechwriter or editor, the gentleman lived up to his initials MVP by proving he is indeed a Most Valuable Person who had the courage and the innate decency to take full responsibility for a subordinates mistake, grievous though it may have been, thereby setting a profound example of how men and women of consequence should act.
Those who may give substance to their petty vendettas in getting at him either in print, the broadcast media and the modern means of communication such as Facebook, Twitter etc only serve to enhance the stature of Mr. Pangilinan while demonstrating their own streak of meanness and the obvious absence of class.
We guess that is to be expected in a national society that has steadily deteriorated in its appreciation of the values and virtues that good and decent Filipinos ? and there are many in business ? live by, while at the same time casting aside the noble traditions of forgiving an individual who demonstrates the unquestioned integrity to not merely admit a mistake but to assume full responsibility for it when perhaps he didn?t have to, to the extent that he did.
We recall a 1976 meeting between chairman Mao Tse Tung and President Ferdinand Marcos in Beijing that signaled the establishment of historic diplomatic relations ? an act which by itself showed the vision and the grasp of international realities as they affect relations between states, by President Marcos.
At that meeting Chairman Mao told President Marcos when he talked about how he was being criticized for his policies and actions that ?the tallest tree in the forest catches all the wind.?
Manny Pangilinan is, in many respects, the tallest tree in a denuded forest who puts a premium on the inherent qualities of good-sense, integrity and decency that somehow scar the Philippine landscape because of their having been burned down in an era of corruption, indecency and sullied integrity.
A gentlemen like Manny Pangilinan is as rare as a Blue Eagle who, by his conduct in a difficult circumstance, has soared high into the skies of national recognition and esteem at a time when we probably need it the most because it should serve as a yardstick by which we collectively as a nation and people judge the men and women who seek public office on May 10.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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