Cebu City gov’t rallies behind embattled marathoner Tabal

Mary Joy Tabal. FILE Photo from Cebu Daily News

CEBU CITY—Should Cebuano marathon sensation Mary Joy Tabal be allowed to join in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the Cebu City government will make sure that she will get the training that she needs for the competition. Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña made an offer for the city to help fund Tabal’s trainings when she visited city hall on Tuesday morning during a courtesy call.

She was accompanied by Commissioner Ramon Fernandez of the Philippine Sports Commission, among others.

The city is just waiting for Tabal to make a formal budget request that will include a breakdown of her training needs and costs, said Councilor Jerry Guardo, head of the council’s sports committee.

He added the mayor also made a commitment to “fight” for Tabal’s inclusion in the SEA Games.

Councilor Eugenio Gabuya, deputy mayor for sports, said the budget for Tabal’s training can be charged to the mayor’s discretionary fund or Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. funds whichever is available.

“As to how much (funding is needed) that is still to be determined,” he added.

Gabuya delivered a privilege speech during the session of the city council on Tuesday afternoon to ask the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) to explain why Tabal was excluded from the roster of Filipino athletes who would compete in the SEA Games where the Cebuana won silver in 2015.

READ: Tabal no longer part of national team

Because of Gabuya’s speech, the council passed a resolution asking Patafa to include Tabal, the only Filipino to compete in last Olympics marathon, in the lineup.