There was a big fight on the social networks this weekend between Filipino sports personalities, and for once, I wasn’t involved in it. World champion Nonito Donaire and GMA-7 sports reporter Chino Trinidad got into an Internet fight that quickly turned very, very ugly.

Some context: throughout the whole Donaire family drama involving Nonito Jr. and his parents, Chino has been critical of the fighter for not patching things up with his family, a position he shares with his father, Inquirer columnist Recah Trinidad, who has written a number of articles on the matter. In one of Chino’s posts on Facebook, Nonito’s father-in-law also got into a tiff with the former PBL commissioner.

Ironically, the incident between Nonito and Chino erupted after the younger Donaire finally reconciled with his father. In fact, Chino even tweeted about the reconciliation.































Chino’s a friend, but I can’t help but think that he stepped way, way over the line in some of the things he said. Then again, maybe I’m not the best person to say where the line is. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t end up being censured by GMA News over this incident, and it’d certainly be even more ammo for those that dislike him terribly – and we all know that there are a lot of people who do.

On the other hand, I can’t help but think that this is another dumb PR move for Nonito and his wife, Rachel. Exactly what are they going to accomplish by going after not just Chino, but other media members who’ve written unflattering things about them? This “away-palengke” is unbecoming of Nonito’s stature as one of the best fighters in the world. And while the rest of us would probably rather just focus on his in-ring performances, at some point, you have to wonder why they seem to keep finding themselves in crap like this.