What if Ninoy had called the shots?

SINGAPORE—Competence is the name of the game, a golden trait sorely lacking among our athletes here, together with a majority of self-styled top Filipino sports leaders and trainers back home. That, in a stinging nutshell, was the theme of a beer sermon from multiple national cycling marathon winner Jesus Aquino Garcia Jr. of Mangaldan, Pangasinan.
Cycling Jess, champion in the 1973 Tour of Luzon, the 1977 Tour of Picaa and 1977 Tour of Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, is here as correspondent of the respected Sunday Punch of Dagupan, whose founding editor and publisher, Ermin Garcia Sr., was martyred in 1966.
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An eager, sharp-nosed 64, Garcia had his first taste of Olympic-size competition during the 3-on-3 boys’ basketball final, won by Serbia over Croatia on Monday.
The curly-haired Fil-Mexican readily noted how backward Filipino basketeers have become compared to the solid, even-footed European power players.
But what readily stood out in Garcia’s early Olympic observation was the sickening lack of a proper youth sports development program back home.
“Otherwise, we would have had cyclists competing here,” he groaned over his second set of tall, ice-cold Carlsberg in the festive, brilliantly lit Chinese eatery at the corner of Perac Road and Jalan Besar.
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Jess said a big bunch of calibered junior riders in Pangasinan which he handles would’ve readily qualified in the Youth Olympic Games, based on the times submitted by winners here.
A pity, but his frustration was made graver following the Luneta Grandstand carnage, whose gory details were beamed live on Singapore television.
He stayed up all night long, together with young back-packers from Europe and a delegation from the Palawan Dental Group, to follow the bloody drama from the lobby of the Footprint Hostel.
It was wrong, all wrong, a big blunder, Jess cried.
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So what should have been done if you were in President Noynoy Aquino’s place.
“I would have done a Ninoy Aquino,” he replied.
How?
“I would have called the shots”
But that would’ve put the life of the President at great risk.
“Of course, but it was a matter of command responsibility, what was he Commander in Chief for?”
You sure Ninoy, the father, would’ve done that?
“Of course!”
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Jess said Ninoy would have patched up and dialogued with the hostage-taker.
“Ninoy would calm him down by calling, right there, for a recall and re-trial of his dismissal case,” Jess surmised.
Jess signaled the bearded, elderly waiter for his third beer.
Here, a text message filtered in from lawyer Vic Rodriguez in Quezon City:
“DILG Sec. Jess Robredo should take full responsibility for the Manila Grandstand carnage. If the pitiful Prisco Nilo of Pagasa was axed by P-Noy for failure to predict the direction of the destructive typhoon, why not do the same to Robredo? Or are we back to the rotten “bata-bata” system? Pls. pass on.”
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Sorry, it was one moment of true heroism missed by President Noynoy, Garcia claimed.
But wasn’t Nonoy supposed to have inherited his father’s courage and greatness?
“Heroism can be learned, but only the hard way,” Jess said.
How?
“By learning to take the bull by the horn at the moment of truth,” the cycling legend said.
How else?
“Definitely not through endless media-savvy, not through cute, if shallow, posturings.”