Saturday, July 05, 2008 Pacquiao to carry RP flag in Beijing Games By Marianne Saberon-Abalayan
TUBOD, Lanao del Norte -- The 15 Filipino athletes seeing action in the 2008 Olympics will get a big boost as no less than newly-crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion Manny Pacquaio will carry the Philippine flag during the opening parade of the event which fires off in Beijing next month.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William "Butch" Ramirez said this in an interview with Sun.Star here Thursday. He added that it was Malacañang, which pushed for Pacquiao's inclusion in the Philippine delegation.
"I received a communication from Malacañang to have Manny as our flag carrier. I'm okay with it and so is Peping Cojuangco. There is a great possibility this will materialize. His presence will surely boost the Filipino pride and spirit," Ramirez said.
Cojuangco is the president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), which is the umbrella of national sports associations.
Ramirez said they will also check with the International Olympic Committee if the four-division titlist boxing sensation from General Santos City can be allowed to carry RP's flag even if he's not an official RP athlete in the Olympics.
Pacquiao won the WBC lightweight title when he stopped David Diaz of Mexico just recently in Las Vegas.
The PSC chief said multi-gold medal winner in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, swimmer Miguel Molina, was earlier eyed as the country's flag carrier.
"Peping said it is very possible. He even cited an Olympics where boxing legend Muhammad Ali carried the USA flag," Ramirez said.
Ramirez, who was guest speaker of the Mindanao Sports Summit that closed at the Mindanao Civic Center Hotel, said Pacquiao's accreditation forms are now being prepared to make him an official Philippine delegate to the Olympics.
"We are now in the final stages of our preparations. I'm going to Korea on Monday to see how well Tshomlee Go and Mary Antoinette Rivero are doing in their taekwondo training then I'll fly to Beijing," Ramirez said.
The country, which has yet to win its first-ever Olympic gold medal, will send a total of 32 delegates of athletes, coaches and officials. It will see action in six sports--taekwondo, diving, shooting, boxing, swimming, and weightlifting.
Davao City's very own Sheila Mae Perez and Rexel Ryan Fabriga, who have won gold medals in the Thailand SEA Games last year, are entered in the women's three-meter springboard and men's 10-meter platform events, respectively.
Completing the RP's army of athletes are swimmers James Walsh, David Coakley, Ryan Arebejo and Christel Simms, archer Mark Javier, shooter Eric Ang, boxer Harry Tanamor, long jumpers Henry Dagmil and Marestella Torres and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz.
