It was a glorious Saturday for Philippine sports no thanks to the Philippine Olympic Committee under its president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. or the Philippine Sports Commission headed by Chair Richie Garcia.
Our statement in last Friday’s column that the private sector was emerging as the savior of Philippine sports was thoroughly vindicated Saturday.
The Smart Gilas basketball team, which has been passionately supported by businessman-sportsman Manny Pangilinan, created a stunning upset on the opening day of the Jones Cup in Taipei by beating two-time defending champion and Asian giant Iran, 73-59. This proved that with the right leadership, a sound program and intrinsic talent, the Philippines is now back as a force to reckon with internationally.
Over the past few days, our gallant Philippine dragon boat team, ousted as a National Sports Association by the POC and denied any funding by the PSC, paddled its way to a slew of gold medals at the World Dragon Boat Championships in Tampa, Florida.
Their trip to the championships was supported by Lucio Tan’s Philippine Airlines as well as Asia Brewery’s Cobra Energy Drink, with the soft-spoken Michael Ngo as the prime mover.
The giant television network ABS-CBN and the major newspapers led by the Inquirer threw their full support behind the Dragon Boat paddlers who are mainly from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Indefatigable TV reporter Dyan Castillejo and her staff had carried the crusade for the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation. The POC robbed the country of sure gold medals in the last Asian Games by not fielding a dragon boat team because it wanted the federation to be placed under the Canoe and Kayak NSA, which has had absolutely nothing to show by way of achievement. (The POC ruled that the dragon boat time trials for the Asiad was technically flawed. The POC also withdrew recognition of the PDBF since its international federation is not affiliated with the International Olympic Committee.—Ed)
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The case of the Asia-Pacific softball champion Manila team was another blatant example of official neglect. Parents of the the girls aged 16 to 18 had to appeal in a widely read front-page story in the Inquirer for donors to help defray the team’s travel expenses to Michigan for the World Series championship.
When Manny Pangilinan read the story, he promptly offered to help. His generous gesture has been quickly rewarded as these young girls defeated defending champion US Central from Grand Rapids, Michigan, 4-1, for its 4th straight win.
The Saturday successes came not long after 15-year-old Eumir Felix Marcial became the first Filipino to win a gold medal in the Junior World Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan. While the PSC didn’t support the campaign of the young kid from Zamboanga, MVP, as Abap chair, rewarded Marcial with a P300,000 incentive.
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In track and field, the athletes of the POC’s most hated sports leader, Go Teng Kok, won three gold and two silver medals at the competitive Vietnam Open Athletic Championships.
What is pathetic is that in the midst of the amazing gold-medal victories of our dragon boat paddlers, POC official Mark Joseph circulated a text message that sought to downplay the achievements in Tampa that were cheered on by a large number of Filipinos who did everything they could to make our paddlers feel as comfortable as possible.
Angered by Joseph’s mean streak, Go, president of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association, responded in fiery fashion:
“Of all the people in the POC you are the most cruel to athletes. You don’t mind them suffering, especially the young. What kind of animal are you?”