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Thursday, December 01, 2005
Editorial: SEA Games sideshow
WE FOCUS first on the good news: the country's athletic contingent is making good its promise of a strong performance in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and so far medals are being won in several categories in a repeat performance of that nearly memorable 1991 SEA Games.
Now the bad news: no matter how sterling the performances it simply cannot provide a deodorizer to the President who's been all over Cebu making sure her presence is always on hand every time a winning athlete gets to the podium for the gold.
Not that anyone can begrudge her of that privilege since as it was pointed out that the last time this country hosted the SEA Games was almost 14 years ago. At that time the local sports hierarchy had nearly zero support for the athletes but this didn't deter them from making a strong finish in the 1991 Games.
Not that it really did matter in more prestigious competitions like the Asian Games, which is considered the true testing ground and benchmark for Olympic gold prospects in Asia.
And the Arroyo administration, like its political predecessors did little to elevate the country's sports scene though the President's husband, Miguel Arroyo, was "here and there" so to speak when it came to supporting the athletes.
By "here and there" we mean he's been going around Congress and being credited with paying through taxpayer's money the trips and hotel expenses of the lawmakers who watched that Manny Pacquiao match with some foreign dude whose name we hardly remember and don't care to do so.
Of course since the SEA Games is being hosted by us Filipinos it falls upon our President to become the gracious host--in fact being so gracious as to being there most of the time to avoid answering questions about the first public appearance and comments by now visible ex-Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
For no matter how much she tries to bask in the earned glory of the athletes--whose glory and day in the sun is theirs and shared only by people who worked closely with them and not by extension the President since she is obligated to support them--Arroyo still hasn't by a long shot cleared her name of the electoral charges leveled on her as a result of the "Hello Garci" CDs.
What makes the 2005 SEA Games worthy of public support and adulation is the athletes who are the real stars of the show but are in danger of being cast in the sideline by the sideshow antics of Arroyo and her "phone pal", Garcillano.
(December 1, 2005 issue)
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