MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – ‘Death Came Before Dawn,’ read the banner headline of a major daily newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) last week. The story was about Filipina Mary Jane Veloso who was scheduled that day to be executed by the Indonesian government along with eight others convicted for drug-related crimes.

There was one big problem: Veloso’s execution was stayed at the 11th hour, and the newspaper received harsh criticism and major embarrassment for pre-empting Veloso’s death.

Fast forward to Monday, the morning after Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao lost by unanimous decision to American Floyd Mayweather in what was billed the ‘Fight of the Century.’

The PDI ran a full-page, view-from-behind photo showing Pacquiao acknowledging cheers from the crowd that witnessed the fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The same photograph showed Mayweather seemingly puzzled at the crowd’s reaction to his victory. The choice of photograph made it appear that Pacquiao won.

In an effort to save itself from yet another embarrassment, PDI skipped the headline. Instead, it  asked the readers to turn to Page  A17 in order to read the full story of Pacquiao’s disappointing loss to Mayweather.

Was it a wise move on the part of the respected newspaper?

Nah, we think PDI was in denial.  It had hoped to run a banner headline on its front page announcing: ‘Pacquiao Beats Mayweather!’