Monday, August 27, 2007 Fil-Foreigners help boost RP team
WHEN the 500-man RP contingent defends the overall crown in the 24th Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand in December, at least 30 of them will be Fil-Foreigners.
Their inclusion in the RP national team will not only be limited to the Sea Games but also in the quadrennial Olympic Games and in the Asian Games in at least eight sports disciplines.
The idea of giving them a chance started many years ago with the Philippine Olympic Committee under the helm of the late Gov. Jose Sering, who said that they too loved the Philippines and have the right to represent the country.
Support
What Sering started was continued by Celso Dayrit, who arranged a meeting with the Filipino community in the US to finalize their participation in the National Open tournaments as a way of a try-out for the RP team.
Even current POC president Jose Cojuangco visited the Filipino community abroad to seek their support in the country’s sports developments and participation in any international tournaments.
“We have to utilize Filipino talents abroad because it will help elevate our level of competitiveness,” said Cojuangco.
He said that the Filipino community in the US assured them of identifying Filipino talents, whom the sports officials could also tap for international tournaments.
Level of play
Philippine Sports Commission chairman William Ramirez, in his visit to the US two years ago, said that they have even asked the Filipino consulates to help in efforts to discover these sports talents.
“Their inclusion would also improve the level of play,” said Ramirez.
But through the years, only Edward Lasquete was able to meet expectations. Lasquete, still the current pole-vault national record holder, was part of the RP athletics team that saw action in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. He won the gold in pole-vault for the country in the 1993 and 1995 Sea Games in Singapore.
The rest of the Fil-Ams, except perhaps professional tennis players Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino and Fil-Canadian billiard player Alex Pagulayan have yet to prove their worth. (FCC)
