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Saturday, December 03, 2005
Editorial: 'No cheats'
AT FIRST glance the accusation that the National Government allowed, nay even abetted cheating in the ongoing Southeast Asian (SEA) Games may well be absurd were it not for the fact that this supposedly came from Thailand's own leader and not some low level sports functionary.
But according to reports from national dailies the accusation was indeed leveled at the government specifically the sports officials and organizes behind the annual SEA Games held for the first time outside the capital city of Manila. And rightly so, the sports officials confronted the issue and debunked these claims.
Some of the organizers like Robert Aventajado pointed out that the referees officiating the matches come from various countries and are thus exercise impartiality when rendering their rulings.
And there is also the presence of other sports officials from various countries to speak of. But allegations of cheating in sports competitions are nothing new.
Particularly in professional boxing where our local sports columnists complain about the hometown decisions in some Asian countries in which the Pinoy protagonist is clearly the winner but the native boxer wins even if he got beat up black and blue.
Also there is still a long way to go for the other nations to catch up in the medal standings.
And lest they forgot the Philippines had a strong showing in the SEA Games in home territory back in 1991, where they raced to the lead before being overtaken by Malaysia in the final days of competition.
There is this running joke that since there was alleged cheating in the national elections that it would be easy for Philippine officials to simply rig the medal results of the SEA Games.
To buttress their claims they point to the notorious ex-Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano as proof of the Pinoy penchant for cheating.
Which is rather laughable though it does pain the Filipinos to think that our neighbors in Southeast Asia think little of our capacity for impartiality in arbitration.
Even in sports politics is being injected and inadvertently or not Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's remarks reflected that disdain.
But an investigation had already been ordered and should it sufficiently disprove the allegations then the apologies earlier delivered by the Thai dignitaries may only further justify our position as the wronged party.
And if there is adequate proof of cheating even in some competitions those responsible should be ferreted out and be penalized.
(December 3, 2005 issue)
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