Manny Pacquiao - Learn From His Work Ethics

It is difficult not to react to the impressive victory of Manny Pacquiao in his recent demolition of Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey.

Amidst all the adulations heaped on Pacquiao, the collective self-esteem of the nation has risen to a higher level.

We all want to be associated with the champion, the winner. We belong to an era in which the world has witnessed what a Filipino can do that can make a chapter in history.

But history is not enough. History is meaningless to people if they don't glean lessons from it. Pacquiao's victory made history in boxing, and we are all invited to feast on its lessons.

One thing is that victory does not come without hard work. Manny Pacquiao, despite without having a formal education due to a grinding poverty in his childhood, has recognized an essential lesson in life that without hard work, no one can achieve his fullest potential.

History books tell us that Filipinos were once accused by foreigners as indolent. The accusation was not totally false. Indeed, in the past, the indolence of the Filipinos was very visible. This was seen in how Filipinos prolonged their rest after farm harvest. They were supposed to prepare for the next planting season but many would postpone cultivating their land because after all there were still much to consume in the next few months.

It is difficult to dispel that accusation of being indolent. The poverty of the country is partly due to people's lack of drive to work harder and smarter. Many are just contented to remain where they are now.

There is a strong evidence that shows that the some people in Visayas who migrated to Mindanao and other parts of the country are more successful than their counterparts back home. Once they're outside their comfort zone, these Filipinos, the early settlers of the Visayas region, worked harder in their new-found homes. The same with the Chinese. Those who left China are now the business moguls in foreign lands.

In the life of Manny Pacquiao, he is one of the best examples of what hard work can do to one's life. That if we can be as hard working as Manny Pacquiao, many of us can reach our loftiest dreams in life. That is the kind of lesson that should serve as clarion call to our people.

It is not enough to savor the victory of a man who has made his country proud of him; there has to be a reawakening of our life's attitude toward work and people's drive to succeed.

Pacquiao's success (all his wealth and fame) belong to him alone. We can only admire him that much. But at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves and evaluate our work ethics, reassess our lifestyle, and see whether we have that kind of fortitude that Pacquiao has shown to us.

If indolence is not universal to all Filipinos, then we can still rise above our limitations. Manny Pacquiao has set the example; it is up to us how we apply it to the Filipino nation.

Stan Debohol is an expat and has a Travel Business in Philippines [http://www.iloverp.com] and likes to visit Philippine City and Province.