MORE THOUGHTS ON PACMAN TV RIGHTS ISSUE

Most of those involved have moved on from the most recent Pacquiao incident about TV rights.  For my part, I am certainly glad it's over as it was a huge unnecessary distraction mostly for Manny and his training but for me as well since it took a week out of selling advertising packages for the fight.  It was a stressful week to make sure the public knew the truth and was clear with Solar's position.

I am of the impression that most don't really care where the Pacman fights are televised.  The attention though I think given to the issue was mostly because of its ethical and moral implications.  Can someone really turn his back on contracts as easily as you deciding to switch cars when you want to replace the current?  Can a third party really claim they are free of any fault  just because they did not make the first move?

ABS-CBN, in my opinion was very sloppy in the way they handled the situation.  If I were going into a situation as high profile as Pacquiao's television contract agreement, I would absolutely make sure that I had a strong legal foundation to stand on.  At no time did a legal representative from Channel 2 go public because I am sure no lawyer in their right mind would want to justify and risk ridicule for defending what they did.  They ran with it based on a video and a letter that had no factual basis.  There also seemed to be a well orchestrated series of articles from one sportswriter that set the whole thing up.  But you need more than one sided articles and cowardly "unimpeachable" sources to see it through.

I also want to put into question the way Dyan Castillejo handled the situation based on Manny Pacquiao's account.  I have been a reporter for some international events including the NBA All Star Weekend and the Beijing Olympics.  The access given to us is to exclusively report on the event for our media entity.  We are specifically told that anything outside of what we're supposed to be doing would merit suspension of our privileges.  So using your access to get autographs, and making deals with athletes are out of bounds.  Ms. Castillejo used her access to broker a deal, not just report on Manny.

Manny Pacquiao has apologized.  ABS-CBN has not.  So I'm assuming the giant network does not see anything wrong with anything they did.  I am now curious to see if they will continue to cover Manny as extensively as they've done given what has transpired.  Because if the coverage suffers a significant decline, then maybe they were really just wooing our National Treasure to transfer.  

Lessons Learned

Manny Pacquiao after being asked what he learned from the experience of being in the middle of a controversy for his TV rights said "I am more intelligent now than I was yesterday".  Half joking but true in some ways, he really found out that he was not above the law and even our national treasure should adhere to basic ethical principals.

I was in the middle of the storm as my company, Solar Sports, who had the rights to Pacman's contract was surprised by his sudden announcement that he was rescinding the contract despite no valid reasons to do so.

After a few days worth of stress, lawyers, press conferences, and many phone calls, everything finally worked out and Manny honored his contract.

I, too am more intelligent after this experience.  As far as my lessons learned, I guess there were some...

Manny Pacquiao is one of the most unpredictable people in the world.  The Filipino people really are interested in his life and what he does.

There is no substitute for being right.  The passion and motivation to get the job done stems a lot from your belief in what you're doing.

You don't have to be educated or smart to be blinded by money and power, just human.  

You should always be prepared for all possibilities and cover all your bases.

Always be magnanimous and gracious in everything that you do.  

And my favorite.... "you can please some people all of the time, and all people some of the time, but you cannot please all people all of the time". 

Peace.