PPC’s Barredo: Recruitment key for Para program

Massive recruitment of para athletes.

This will be the direction that the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) needs to take in order to keep up with the powerhouse countries of the Asean Para Games (APG).

“It was a job well done. We improved our performance, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement,’’ PPC president Michael Barredo told the Inquirer.

The nation’s para athletes had a better harvest of medals during the 12th Asean Para Games in Cambodia, compared to last year’s APG in Indonesia.

Team Philippines collected 33 gold medals at the end of the week-long multi-sport competition on Friday night, compared to 28 last year.

But Barredo believes Filipino para athletes can improve on their fifth-place finish in the APG.

“There’s a lot of recruitment necessary so we can increase our participation,’’ Barredo said. “We also need to evaluate those underperforming and strengthen those who are performing. I think this is the plan of action that we should have moving forward.”