Yesterday, about 1.3% of the world's population rejoiced with a promdi's victory in the wonderful world of boxing. That's about 86 million Pinoys around the world. (I didn't know the Philippines is the 12th most populous nation in the world!).

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao beat Mexico's Marco Antonio Barrera at their second face-off yesterday, October 7, 2007 (Philippine time) at Las Vegas. It was Barrera's last boxing match and he's off to retirement. What a way to end a career. (You may click here for more details about the match.)

Anyway, I was among those who were proud to be a Filipino yesterday. It's not everyday that the Philippines get the attention of the whole world for something positive. Heck, I've loved Pacman since the first time I saw him shout, at the top of his lungs, in his glorious Southern Philippines accent, "Ay lab yow, Pilipins! Ay lab yow, Pridi Rots!" ("I love you, Philippines! I love you, Freddie Roach!").

He never failed to amuse and amaze me whenever I see one of his many advertisements and product endorsements on TV. Suddenly, he was as big as megastar Sharon Cuneta in the advertisement world. Who would forget his McDonald's ad? At the end of the commercial, I shook my head in disbelief as I heard Pacquiao sing, "Pa-pa-ra-PACQUIAO" to the tune of the popular food chain's jingle. This guy has million dollars' worth of confidence.

After the match, a thought crossed my mind. With this victory, Pacquaio becomes more popular than ever. More and more companies will be clamoring to get him as endorser. I would not be surprised if his talent fee for product endorsements will skyrocket.

And what do these companies do to compensate for what they spent on their image model? They raise the product's price.

For every Filipino's sake, I hope I'm just being a party pooper.