WITHOUT categorically saying it, Steve Hontiveros is batting for unity among the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the 44 or so National Sports Associations (NSAs).
I support him wholeheartedly. Only in unity will Philippine sports regain its old glory.
And only the three groups can trigger the elusive oneness needed to spark a sports renaissance.
I’m not a KJ and so, let’s go for it, Steve.
Divisiveness has been a cancer that has been gnawing at the gut of Philippine sports for the longest time.
Look, practically every sports official has an agenda of his own.
Virtually every NSA insists on being its own republic, repeatedly ignoring the saying, “No man is an island.”
The best example of fractiousness in Philippine sports is the election of POC officers.
How many elections did we have the last three years alone? Three, I guess.
And yet, during every election, vigorous campaigning readily exposes partisanship among our very own officials, who are supposed to be the paragon of sportsmanship.
And so, after every election, what happens?
The losers will simply drift away from the scene, if not totally fade out into nothingness. Driftwood.
Who would suffer but our athletes, who labor so hard for flag and country—their leaders practically doing nothing to improve the lot of those they are sworn to serve.
You think trapos only appear in mainstream politics?
Think again, fellas.
Hontiveros, the newly elected POC chair and who is, sadly, considered an outsider in the POC’s exclusive inner circle headed by brand-new POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, has said he wants the POC, PSC and NSAs to strike up a memorandum of agreement to ensure a smooth operation of the SEA Games we are set to host in November-December.
Towards this end, he wants the three to cement their ties with the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc).
Nice move, Steve.
I pray and hope that unity in sports, slippery as eel since the invention of sliced bread, would be achieved—finally. Good luck.