McTavish, Narvasa, Duterte score big

Referee Bruce McTavish of New Zealand has scored big for the Philippines in China.

PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa scored a big point for excellence in basketball while in Dubai.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City has detailed how graft and corruption has grown in the country since Ferdinand Marcos. Now for the details:

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Bruce McTavish, 75, a citizen of New Zealand who has been residing in the Philippines for the last 48 years, was given the Referee of the Year award in the recent WBC annual convention in Kunming, China.

“I was awarded as Bruce McTavish from the Philippines,” he stated in a text message on Sunday.

McTavish, a former high school teacher in England and New Zealand, was both proud and happy for his achievement.

At the same time though, he has remained puzzled at his failure to gain Filipino citizenship. He applied two times, was turned down twice.

He’s married to Carmen of the famous Tayag clan in Pampanga, who bore him two children, now grown-ups, both Masters degree holders.

McTavish, a competent and popular boxing official, has stopped counting the number of world championships he has worked.

He was scheduled to leave for Australia last night for the WBC silver belt fight, after having worked the WBC youth championship last week.

He came to the Philippines in 1967.

“Am still waiting for my becoming a Filipino,” he said.

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Chito Narvasa, new commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association, defended Filipino boxing superhero Manny Pacquiao who failed to show up for a major press conference in Dubai over the weekend.

Narvasa, explaining Pacquiao was not feeling well, said the congressman from Sarangani is a world celebrity with various other involvements.

Pacquiao was in Dubai to coach and play for the Mahindra Enforcers.

Narvasa acknowledged Pacquiao’s passion for basketball, saying he deserves recognition for the time and effort he has given to Asia’s first professional league.

Narvasa, however, had to shoot hard, straight when asked about Pacquiao’s honest involvement as a pro in the PBA.

Said Narvasa: “Marketing-wise, there’s no question, he draws crowds and it’s tremendous. But in terms of basketball he’s, first of all, not really a player, he’s a boxer.”

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Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City ended up detailing in a single quip how monstrously graft and corruption has grown since the time of Ferdinand Marcos.

Explaining to a big countryside audience in M’Lang, North Cotabato, which was celebrating its foundation day, the witty, hard-hitting city mayor told the crowd why he’s not endorsing any of the declared presidential aspirants in the 2016 elections.

With Vice President Jejomar Binay, he said, it would be like waging an anti-corruption war against an entire basketball team, compared to only one opponent during the time of Ferdinand Marcos.

Duterte quipped that the Binays, under siege for alleged corruption, have family team members in other branches of government, senate, congress, city hall, to mention only three.

The dig, as expected, drew laughter and applause from the crowd in M’lang, birthplace of former North Cotabato governor Manny Piñol, Duterte’s kumpadre and chief supporter.

Duterte would later said in Davao he might finally be compelled to run for president.

“I do not like the way Filipinos are being oppressed now. They are oppressed and have no one to turn to,” Duterte said.