PRESIDENT Duterte predicted that our basketball team will lose to Italy in the Fiba World Cup in China. He was proven right. He also predicted that Gilas Pilipinas will beat Angola. This time he was wrong.
In fact, we did not win a single game in the tournament. And except for the game against Angola, our losses were by huge margins. After a 59-point loss to his team, the coach of Serbia rubbed it in, saying that we do not belong in the big leagues.
The remark did not sit well with us. We thought that the coach was arrogant, that he was not magnanimous in victory. I think he was being truthful and we have to live with that truth. If you can’t argue with success, neither can you with failure.
Don’t get me wrong. I love basketball. I was able to travel to places I could have only dreamed of because of the sport. I am a Los Angeles Lakers fan. And I watch the UAAP on TV when UP and Ateneo are playing.
But we have to be realistic. We cannot compete with the big boys. They’re far superior to us not only in terms of physical gift but also of skills. They already have 6’8” point guards and how tall is Junmar Fajardo, our tallest center?
Let’s select the leagues where we can be competitive. Forget the Fiba World Cup. Forget the Olympics, even just qualifying for it. We will just get butchered and as we have just experienced, it’s not going to be a pretty sight.
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The five men who gang-raped a minor in Lapu-Lapu City should be kept in jail. They are remorseless. And they appear to be serial rapists. How else can you describe a gang whose leader explains their criminal behavior as part of being young, was all for fun and that they do not have any other vice except sex with women? What perversity!
I hope that the police will file the charges immediately, that the prosecutor will not recommend bail and that the court will not grant it and worse, dismiss the case because the complainant does not appear in the hearing.
In many cases, the offended party loses interest in prosecuting the case because the proceedings are taking too long or she is being threatened or has been paid. I hope it will not happen to this case. I’m sure there are organizations that can provide shelter to the victim and prevent her from being reached by the accused.
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Shortly after he was elected, Mayor Edgardo Labella met with President Duterte and thanked the President for his support. In response, Duterte told him, “pagbinuotan lang.”
Obviously, Labella has taken Duterte’s advice to heart. But he cannot do it on his own. Everyone has to be on board.