Change of Engagement

by Dyes

Sports is the unifying factor of our country. These words came from Chairman Butch Ramirez during our first meeting last year. He uttered it during the time when PSC was still raising and soliciting funds for the SEA Games. Probably not many people know that the venues for the SEA games were not ready and finished until the last minute. If it weren’t for FG and his influence, there would be no funds for the construction or renovation of the sites and our athletes would not have adequate training. I sincerely doubt if our dearly beloved congressmen and senators sliced out their pork barrels to contribute for the success of the games. And yet, upon winning 100+ medals, their faces are pasted everywhere.

Now, Manny won over Morales. Again, you see the faces of our dearly beloved congressmen and senators congratulating him for a job well done. But, where were they when he was merely an amateur boxer? Where were they when he was probably just making the ends meet during his training years, like our usual athletes who have yet to encounter fame? More importantly, where was their support, financial and moral, when he most needed them?

These were my thoughts upon seeing Korina’s show on our athletes receiving a measly P11,000 a month; after seeing Sheila Perez, a three-time gold medalist, still laundering her own clothes after practice in a run-down RMSC.

Everybody loves a winner. Manny is loved by all Filipinos. Indeed, his win united our country.

And though it may be a wishful thinking, I hope that our dearly beloved congressmen and senators would realize that support is needed not only during winning time, but moreso during training before stepping up the ladder.