So far, aside from a heart breaking over his son’s arrest on a drug charge, he seems to be holding up well.

He could’ve done worse by doing what a lot of politicianfathers might have attempted to do. The drug-busting mayor of Manila could’ve lied, tried a cover-up or asked the narcs to impose a news blackout, he could’ve bought himself an expensive p.r. blitz to confuse, obfuscate the issue.

Instead he said, "Let the ax fall where it may, I’m not going to lift a finger to help him," referring to his 44-year-old son Manny. In that instant, Manileños knew they had a mayor they could be proud of — even as they saw the pain in his eyes.

The other, better-known Manny doesn’t need help from anyone right now, but if he’s true to himself, Pacquiao must be suffering in his own little purgatory sweating, wondering why that cliff-hanger of a conclusion, i.e., his "unfinished business" with Marquez, remains unfinished, inconclusive in the eyes of some (including fans and friends).

As Pacman himself told GMA on the phone, it was "tsamba . . . suerte" — by chance and luck — that he hammered out a split decision by one point. Whether it was his humility or his honesty talking, this non-fan of boxing thinks it’s time for the champ to hang up his gloves and revel in the unadulterated adulation of his countrymen. And spare his dearest and nearest the pain of seeing a loved one take the punches while from a distance they take the blows and cringe to suffer in empathy with him.