Christmas on a red shades ride

If you are one with a short fuse, in a hurry, or are maintaining your daily pill for hypertension, never think about hailing a taxicab these days. This is the season of busy taxis and of snobbish taxi drivers. This is the season of people in shopping frenzy that they take more cab rides than usual.

As I submitted to the reality that my car will be spending Christmas with the mechanic, I braced for the hard ride this season.

I decided to take a jeepney to my favourite coffee shop Tuesday morning after waiting fruitlessly for almost half an hour for a vacant cab. What is dreading with the long jeepney rides for this impatient fast-living colloid turned out to be a comic relief worth a silent chuckle.

An elderly woman in her sixties wearing extra large red bubuyog shades and her fair-skinned friend stepped up the jeep and took the seat in front of me. The woman with the red shades recognized another passenger and they started conversing.

“Have you seen (name of a person) lately?,” I heard the man ask the fab-looking woman in vernacular.

The woman with the red shades answered: “Wala.” Then she gestured by trickling her fingers. “Onli tro fisbok.”

I could not help but take another look at the hip grandma.

Christmas red shades. Legging pants. And a facebook account of her own.

My, oh my. This woman is cool.

Like this woman, I also thought it cool for my mom, all of 78 years, to have a facebook account of her own too. But she wanted something else. A camera-phone for Christmas is what she is asking.

Lately, her cellular phone which I bought some five years ago, finally sucked its own life out of this maddening world of social networking. I used to dread the endless thread of text messages she sends me. Now, all of a sudden with her CP conking out, I am beginning to miss those bugging text messages.

There are things in this world we dread at one time and miss at another. Like jeepney rides. I dread taking the jeepney rides which make you feel like a squeezed lemon after getting off. Then again, I miss the jeepney rides too and dread all the waiting for taxicabs. In a taxicab, either you end up with a friendly cabbie or an irky one. But in a jeepney ride, you don’t mind the driver unless he’s scrappy behind the wheel. You enjoy the ride with strangers. It separates you from your own world. It takes you for a few minutes away from your cares. You realize that life ain’t too bad at all.

A Thai priest shared the homily at one misa de gallo I attended. The gospel talked about the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. Presence, Mary’s presence, more than anything else, brought happiness to the infanticipating Elizabeth. The essence of the Visitation is the message that one’s presence is worthier than any gift. This took me back to the bugging messages of my mom when she still had a CP. I dread it like a broken record. But when I do not receive her messages anymore, I felt like my day is not complete. Those messages, no matter how irritating it may get, is her presence no matter the distance. Much like the Christmas-inspired red shades of that cool facebooking granma.

Whatever ride took us through the year, whether on flashy cars or the jeepney and taxicab rides, it’s time to ask the question to ourselves too: “Did you talk to Jesus lately?”

Would you say “yes.”

Or will you say “onli tro fisbok.”

Merry Christmas, everyone.

News: It’s official: FIFA upholds Martinez ouster

Filed by Neil Bravo (12/21/10) as of 4:00 p.m.

This time, redemption came for Philippine football.

A day after the Philippines formally bowed out of the AFF Suzuki Cup with a two-nil aggregate to Indonesia, the country’s national football association can celebrate the declaration of the world’s highest football governing body upholding its new leadership.

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, in a letter addressed to Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Secretary General Ramon Manuel, formally upheld the change of leadership in the PFF and the ouster of former President Jose Mari Martinez.

Valcke wrote that FIFA Vice President and Association Committee chairman Geoff Thompson was convinced that the elections held last November 27 was valid under Article 13.5 of the PFF By-Laws.

Under the said provision “Only the PFF Congress, by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the entire voting membership may remove and replace the PFF President upon the recommendation and majority vote of the Board of Governors.”

Valcke cited the documents submitted to FIFA in a letter by the PFF on December 6 in reply to the FIFAs letter of December 3 as the basis for FIFA to reconsider its earlier decision of nullifying the elections.

“After having consulted the minutes of the 7^th ordinary congress of the PFF on 27^th November, 2010, as well as the other enclosures which we now have in our file, we consider that these bring a new light to the held Congress and its results,” Valcke wrote.

The submission of the new enclosures prompted Valcke to refer the matter to Thompson which issued an opinion that the elections last November 27 was held according to the By-Laws of the PFF. He cited that the recommendation of the majority of the Board of Governors was carried out in meetings last September 25 and October 29 and resumed on November 27 leading to Martinez’s ouster the election of Mariano Araneta as the new PFF President and Ismael Batiles, Jr. as Vice President.

Based on Tompson’s opinion, Valcke wrote that the FIFA considers the motion to remove Martinez was accepted.

The letter also confirmed FIFA’s vesting of rights to the new PFF President and Executive Vice President.

“We would like to congratulate Mr. Mariano V. Araneta and Mr. Ismael C. Batiles, Jr. to their election and thank you for taking note,” Valcke concluded.

The letter was faxed from FIFAs Zurich headquarters last Monday.

Martinez was ousted because of alleged unauthorized disbursement of PFF funds, falsification of public documents and failure to return missing funds before a set deadline. This was placed under Point VI of the agenda “Finance.” 26 members voted to oust Martinez with 4 abstentions and 3 of the 33-member Congress absent.

Martinez, however, clung on the post after seeking help from the Asian Football Federation (AFF) which reaffirmed its recognition of him as President. The leadership crisis in the PFF reached high pitch when the members of the Philippine football team criticized Martinez after a successful campaign in the AFF Suzuki Cup where they beat Vietnam en route to its first ever stint in the semis.

Martinez is said to be a close ally of AFF President Kiram Keramuddin of 2022 World Cup host Qatar after the former reportedly delivered the swing vote for Keramuddin in the AFF elections.

Last Sunday, the Azkals finally bowed out of the Suzuki Cup but not after earning the respect of its neighbours in Southeast Asia and the warm embrace of its fans at home. (Neil Bravo, DSA)

Gray Matters With Neil Bravo: Start believing the Azkals are good

Gray Matters With Neil Bravo: Start believing the Azkals are good

Gray Matters With Neil Bravo: Will David Alaba play for the Azkals?

Gray Matters With Neil Bravo: Will David Alaba play for the Azkals?

Will David Alaba play for the Azkals?

Forget that we lost to the Indons in the semis of the Suzuki Cup. Forget too this lad named Chad Gould. If there is one player the Philippines should pursue to sustain the football revolution triggered by the Azkals, it must be an 18-year old teen phenom from Austria.

This teen sensation is now regarded as the great hope of the Alpine nation of Austria and plays for the Champions League ballclub Bayern Munich of Germany.

Who is this boy and why the interest in him? I googled his name and found some interesting facts about this kid.

David Olatokunbo Alaba was born on June 24, 1992 in Vienna, Austria to a Nigerian father George and a Filipino mother Gina who is described as a nurse and former Miss Philippines back in the 80s. His father earns his salary as musician and rapper. That makes him a multiracial individual. He is a citizen of Austria by birth and may also be a citizen of both Nigeria and Philippines by choice.

According to his web profile, David Alaba started his football club playing days at 9 years old playing for SV Alpern. Austria Vienna cashed in on his talent and brought him into their youth academy. Alaba was an instant sensation in Vienna's youth ranks, playing for their U-17s as a 14-year-old. As a 15-year-old, he suited up for the U-19s and not too long after in April 2008 he was a teener sitting on the bench with the Austria Vienna professional club.

Bayern Munich found the talented youngster in summer of 2008 and brought him to their academy. He played for the U-19s in 2008-09 and he started the 2009-10 season with Bayern's amateur team in the third league. David was eligible to train under the Bayern professionals as early as January 2010.

He was also described as “a confident, grounded and intelligent young man. He helps to coach the Bayern U-11 team and also works as a helper at a school for handicapped.”

This boy wonder surely has reached full stardom as a booter. And in Austria he is even considered as a “a jewel and blessing.” It was former Austrian great and current Austrian U-21 national team coach Andreas Herzog who has called Alaba a "jewel, a blessing for Austrian football"

While it looks like Alaba could be what the doctor...err veterinarian (?) ordered for the Azkals, the chances of convincing him to play here are either slim or none. The reason is, Alaba is already the subject of a tug of war among Nigeria, Germany and Austria—three nations which are regular World Cup qualifiers. If David plays in any of the three nations, he is assured of seeing action before World Cup lights.

The same cannot be said of the Philippines. If he plays for the Azkals, he bids his dream of playing in the WC where the world’s best compete in football’s grandest stage. There is only one hope he will play for us—that is, if his mother says so.

But I will not bank on that.

For the record, Alaba has set the record as the youngest player ever to play on Austria’s national team and broke the record of Toni Kroos (17 years, 265 days old) as the youngest ever to suit up for Bayern Munich.

No doubt, Alaba will be a future football star whether or not he plays for Germany, Austria, Nigeria or the Philippines. Let’s admit it, he has more chances of conquering the big stage wearing the colors of either of the three countries outside us. But he can make his mark in history if he carries a World Cup stranger like the Philippines to greater football heights.

Here’s hoping he will. If not, let’s hope to find more talents from our dogpounds...err, backyard.

Rey Saludar: Not all that glitters is money

Five Thousand pesos.

That was the biggest amount Rey Saludar recalled he has ever slid inside his wallet. This was some time ago after a simmering session inside the gym, long before his shining moment one cold afternoon in Guangzhou, China.

With his victory in the Asian Games came a windfall of 4 Million pesos, an amount too much for his tattered wallet to take.

In fact, it is too much for him to count. Too much to splurge for a life lived so austere that comfort is as strange as luxury. But Rey is one who does not know the meaning of too much. He has worked his ass off since an on-the-breadline childhood finding his way out of depravity. His mind is far engulfed by the fountain of fortune that came with his rousing victory.

“It’s in the bank,” he answered quickly. In fact, he never even got the chance to squeeze the bundle of bills with his prized fist.

It has not sunk in to him how he will spend his money. His mind is set elsewhere—London, 2012.

The 23-year old Asiad gold medallist has his sights on the Olympic gold in 2012—a feat no Filipino athlete has ever achieved. If he wins the elusive gold, that would mean another windfall and an iconic status close to that of a Manny Pacquiao.

Close, but not quite. An amateur will never approximate the wealth and status reserved to an over-achieving professional like Pacquiao.

Will he chase Manny’s path?

“No.” The answer was as quick as his fists. “I will never turn professional. That’s not in my plan. I just wanted to win an Olympic gold and then retire.” Rey said in the vernacular, surprising everyone during his homecoming press conference at the Panabo Gym.

A decorated amateur boxer like him would surely be on every professional boxing promoter’s radar. No luck to the Bob Arums and Golden Boys out there, prize-fighting is not in Rey’s radar.

The seventh child in a brood of 14, yes 14, Rey will shoot for one of the slots to the London summer games in Azerbajian next year. His younger brother Victorio, who won bronze in Guangzhou, will also try to make it to London for the Saludars—fast emerging as the Philippines’ bruise brothers of boxing.

Both Rey and Vic were a product of the Barangay Una boxing program of then Congressman Tonyboy Floirendo and now continued by Congressman Anton Lagdameo of Davao del Norte’s second district. The Saludars joined the Barangay Una stable in 2005 after a long journey out of obscurity and dissoluteness.

As a child, Rey was his father Victorio’s assistant working as farmhands just to make both ends meet in Polomolok. The family owns a six-hectare farm planted to corn but Victorio and wife Vivencia were forced to pawn half of their property in order to feed their children of 10 boys and 4 girls.

Victorio, 53, was a boxing fanatic by heart. Realizing he can form a stable of boxers out of his bunch of boys, he bought a pair of gloves when Rey and his brothers were in their elementary days and trained them to box under his watch and then line them up to fight during weekends at Polomolok’s Boxing at the Park.

Gifted with innate talent and dexterity, his boys started to dominate the fights each Sunday but Victorio soon realized he would not get ample support from the local government to bring his boys to competitions outside town. With the economic pinch in South Cotabato too much for the Saludars, Victorio brought his family to Kapalong in Davao del Norte and try to hook up with the town’s boxing program.

In 2005, the Saludars decided to join Barangay Una and fight under the watch of one of the country’s biggest amateur boxing patron—Tonyboy Floirendo. It was a decision that will soon change the lives of the Saludars.

In 2006, while competing in the ABAP National Tournament in Lanao del Norte, coaches of the National Team were awed by the talent of the Saludar brothers. Rey first joined the ABAP pool with fellow Barangay Una standout Charly Suarez, before his brother Vic joined them later in Manila.

Like most national team mainstays, Rey is an enlisted Armyman but he does not carry a rifle. He fires with his punches atop the squared battlefield, not in the killing fields of Mindanao.

The long road to perdition was etched deeply in Rey’s mind. This is his world. If he were an artist, amateur boxing is his canvas. His white-lined gloves are his brush. His punches were strokes of genius.

For Rey, this gallery is enough to create his masterpieces. He does not need too much. He need not be a Picasso where he is happy as an Amorsolo.

He need not be a Pacquiao—the 8-time world champion and congressman. He is happy being a Saludar. Afterall, greatness and immortality is measured in many ways.

“After my career is over, I can go to the army or return home one day.”

That day, he swears, will be his payback time for boxing. He will return to the barangays of Davao del Norte sharing his boxing skills to those who dare chase a dream like him.

As to his tattered wallet, he does not need a new one when the money he has saved as a simon-pure—albeit not too much compared to a professionals’ millions—is there to ensure a modest and comfortable future to the next generation of Saludars.

Start believing the Azkals are good

I rushed to my favourite coffee shop Museo Cafe down Tionko Street at half past nine in the evening Thursday hoping to catch the remaining minutes of the Philippines-Indonesia semifinal match on live video streaming.

My television at home got busted recently. Trouble is, the China-made boob tube does not have spare parts available in the city.

When I finally got to the official website, the match was over and the score read 0-1 for the Indons.

I heaved a sigh. Not bad. Eight years ago, the scoreboard read 13-1 for the Indonesians. Thursday night, it was as slim as it can get. And it was not too pretty a win for the Indons in front of their President and 70,000 red-shirted fans.

I watched the game highlights and that goal by Christian Gonzales was nothing short of spectacular. That lone goal came after Azkals keeper Neil Etheridge and Ray Johnsson banged each other in a defensive mix-up. Coach Alfred Riedl couldn’t hide his relief after the close win and paid tribute to the defence of the Azkals.

Riedl was kind of saying after the win that this is why the Philippines is in the last four. "Today, we saw why the Philippines are in semi-finals. They are a very strong team but I think that we deserved the win because we were the more active team,” Riedl said in the Suzuki Cup’s official website.

But a win is a win and the Indonesians will savor the victory going into Sunday’s final match of the tie.

Minutes after the match, the official Facebook page of the Azkals were flooded with comments from their hordes of fans. Most of the fans thought they put up a tough stand but needed to communicate better. Some thought they had better be on the attacking mode if we have to win the next match.

Coach Simon McMenemy surely had his strategy well cut out for the Azkals and it worked. The goal came by an error and things like that happen. Don’t cry for Neil Etheridge. I believe he will live to fight another day and forget about the miscue. You can’t blame him and Johnsson either. Playing before 70,000 fans, they can hardly hear each other.

What have we gained from the match?

First, we have come to play at this level. The boisterous home crowd was something they haven’t experienced before. I don’t even think we can gather that much crowd unless it is Edsa People Power again or a Cory Funeral.

We have proven to all that we can play this global game. Football is but a sport waiting for a spark. Everyone loves this game surprisingly in a country where most are crazy with basketball. And yes, contrary to the interpellation of Senator Jinggoy Estrada last Monday in the Senate, football is not a tall man’s game. The Senator should be told that even Spain, the World Cup champions, are not a tall team.

On Sunday, expect the Azkals to come out with smoke in their noses.

Theodore Roosevelt couldn’t have said it more aptly when he said: “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

It's not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or whether the doer of deeds could have done them better...The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and often comes up short again and again. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause. And who, if at best in the end, knows the triumph of higher treatment and high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his soul shall never be with those cold and timid ones, who know neither victory nor defeat.”

The battle is not over.

Finally, let me borrow it from Karen Carpenter.

“We’ve only just begun.”

A school for athletes

MASTER BLASTER

Neil Bravo

Senator Pia Cayetano’s heart for athletes is throbbing again. Last Monday, she was at her element during interpellation before the Senate floor after Senator Migs Zubiri delivered a privilege speech entitled “The Azkals and the state of Philippine Sports: Has it gone to the dogs?”

For Pia, that was just another day in the office. I don’t know about the rest of the country’s upper chamber but everytime there is trouble brewing in sports, they come talking. After a while, it dies down with the whispers.

Senator Pia is not just talking trash and calling Senate probes. She does her talking with legislations. So before a Senate probe can be called on the Azkals and Philippine sports, she already has something on the table to make the so-called stray dogs of Philippine sports taken cared of like a lovable hound.

Senator Pia has the numbers. And it goes like this—2620.

If you ask me further, that’s the number of the Senate Bill she is pushing for the creation of the Philippine High School for Sports (PHSS). So how will SB 2620 be the loving arms for a deprived Azkal?

Think about this. What Manny Pacquiao lacked in his younger days is one thing common among many Filipino athletes—education.

This reality reflects a growing social concern that has become of late very disturbing and imminent. Not that we cringe everytime Manny speaks English before millions of live television audience or when he delivers a privilege speech in Congress. Not because we jawdrop listening to the elegant twang of Fil-foreign athletes like Nonito Donaire, Phil Younghusband, or Kelly Williams.

Think of the many names in Philippine sports and what have they become after their heydays without an education to lean on to.

A few days after Manny Pacquiao demolished Antonio Margarito, lawyer Carlos Isagani Zarate wrote about his kababayans from GenSan, the co-called Boys of Dadiangas who were not as lucky as Manny. How miserable life has become for the non-Pacquiaos of the past and present generations.

Sports is known as the great equalizer. For the poor boys and girls whose parents cannot afford to send them to school, they use their innate athletic skills honed through life’s tough battles in order to get a scholarship.

The chances of getting an athletic scholarship, however, is as tough as battling it out with the bullies of the barrio.

SB 2620, Senator Pia hopes, will be the answer.

Senator Pia’s office emailed me on Tuesday the full text of the bill along with the excerpts of the Senate Journal of the December 13 session.

Among the salient points of SB 2620 is that it is envisioned to create a school for developmental and national athletes who will be given scholarships either full or partial after a screening based on institutional standards. Non-national athletes may also enrol as paying students. The PHHS curriculum will be tailored-fit to prepare national athletes for a productive life after their careers.

SB 2620 states “it is therefore declared the policy of the State to maximize the athletic abilities of students with the end in view of producing world-class athletes with solid academic background. In line with this, an educational system to foster the total development of the youth, with special emphasis on the enhancement and development of their skills in sports is hereby established.”

In relation to the PHHS, there is another bill pending in the Senate filed by Senator Edgardo Angara and this is Senate Bill 3481 which also seeks to establish the Philippine Sports University. Angara’s version is for the creation of a collegiate institution for athletes.

Recently, the Senate approved the naturalization of Smart Gilas American recruit Marcus Douthit making him eligible to play for the national basketball team. I believe that if the Senate can pass such a legislation speedily, it can also prioritize SB 2620 and SB 3481.

The point here is, the Senate can do sports a lot of loving than just calling for probes that will end up netting nothing. Instead, the Senate can focus on the two bills which I believe may be consolidated as one bill to establish a secondary and collegiate institution for sports. I don’t know what happened to the National Institute of Sports which the PSC inaugurated a few years back but the same can also be incorporated in this legislation which will add masteral and doctorate programs related to sports administration.

The story of the Azkals of football is not an isolated case. It happens to just about every sports association. There are many azkals in Philippine sports lapping its way for attention. Perhaps, the least loved of them all just happened to be the spark we all needed to start the fire of sports revolution.

At least, these Azkals speak with a British accent.

But for the rest of our sports heroes--present and future—hope means holding on to an education.

Love those Azkals

All of a sudden everyone’s talking about football.

Amazing. Just a few months ago, the world watched in awe as the World Cup was played in South Africa. The World Cup fever was nevertheless not as intense here compared to other countries whose love for football is almost a religion.

Until last week when the less-loved Philippine football team known as the Azkals beat Vietnam and advanced to the semis of the tough Suzuki Cup, the Southeast Asian region’s version of the World Cup.

Now, all of a sudden everyone’s attention is now with the Philippine Football team. The less-loved Azkals have become household pets overnight.

I was watching replays and newscasts of the Suzuki Cup from my hotel room in Manila and who would not embrace the Azkals for a pet? Everyone, even foreign television commentators are one in saying the win by the PH Azkals over Vietnam is historic. Amazing. Magical moment. They heaped a lot of praises for the once favourite whipping boys of Southeast Asia.

Here is a national team who would not even earn a trip to the Southeast Asian Games because it does not have a realistic chance of winning. Here is a national team with its national sports association in disarray, its leadership shaken by financial imbroglio and its president recently booted out.

I thought the only kick Philippine football is capable of making is kicking out its unwanted president. Those two goals in Vietnam reverberated across every football pitch. Forty thousand fans watched in disbelief. Millions more at home were in a state of shock. The cheers and the praises drowned all the troubles within the PFF.

When the ole-ole in Vietnam simmered down, the bickering back home started to be heard again. It rose to a crescendo when the Azkals themselves rued the leadership of Philippine football upon their arrival. And now, they cannot even play their home game at home.

In football, a home game is very important. It gives you a psychological advantage. It will pit eleven men against thousands on hostile ground. You would not want to experience that if you were a visiting team, do you? Hell, no.

As it stands now, the Azkals will have to face thousands in Indonesia for two games.

I have seen how hard it is to play football when you’re a visiting team in Indonesia. In 1997, I covered the football finals of the Southeast Asian Games pitting home team Indonesia against the visiting Thailand, the defending champs. Outside the Senayan Stadium, vendors sell “water bombs” inside plastic cellophane. The gold liquid turned out to be a concoction of urine and chili.

When the Thais scored in the first half, a portion of the Stadium was set to fire. Officials had to stop the match when the crowd became rowdy. In the second half when the Thais scored again, the bombs rained. When the game was over, the entire Senayan complex was a complete mess. Rowdy fans burned tarps, turned cars over and set fire part of the bleachers.

This was a complete turnaround from another sport where the Indons could stand losing. When the Philippines, starring Rommel Adducul and Danny Ildefonso, beat the Indons with Ali Budimansyah in basketball the night before, the Indons took the beating in stride.

But it was different at the pitch. This is football, Indonesia’s national passion.

This is what playing at home means to the Azkals. To have some warm shoulders to run to. Too bad, because of politics in its own ranks, the Azkals will have to play like stray dogs again, running on the streets of the enemy.

Chairman Garcia heeds Kermit

It was unanimous and inevitable. PSC chair Richie Garcia got a vote of confidence from representatives of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Sports Council and the Games that was in danger of being mothballed again is as alive and kicking as my favorite muppet Kermit the Frog.

Only a day before the scheduled meeting, chair Garcia was mindset on giving up the chairmanship of the region’s sports body and relinquishing the hosting rights to another focus area of the BIMP-EAGA.

It was a wise mindset. Like one taken from Kermit’s book “Look Before You Leap.”

But when the subject was placed on the discussion table in Tuesday’s meeting at the Century Sheraton Hotel, Chairman Garcia was met with an outpouring support, or demand if you may call it, to stay as chair of the BIMP-EAGA Sports Council and take the lead in reviving the Games in 2012 in the Philippines.

Chair Garcia expressed his apologies for the cancellation of the 2010 Games in Davao City. As newly-installed chair of the PSC, the former national golf team coach and two-time Commissioner, explained that the agency is undergoing a transition process.

At the end of the brief but significant summit, Chairman Garcia won the hearts of our regional neighbors.

Yesterday’s meeting was attended by Mohd Zamri Datu Hamdani and Haji Mohamed Zafri of Brunei Darussalam, Valerie Wong of Sabah, Malaysia, Francis Nyurang Ding and Haji Soedirman Bin Aini of Sarawak, Malaysia, Dr. Bambang Nugroho and Isak Sembor of West Papua, Indonesia, and Jusoh Bin Salle and Helmi Bali of Labuan, Malaysia.

The Philippines’ side was also represented by PSC Commissioner Salvador Andrada along with Executive Director Geraldine Bernardo and chief of staff Atty. Guillermo Iroy Jr.

As it now stands, the next question is: who will be the 2012 host? The question is addressed to Mindanao and Palawan which are the two focus areas of the BIMP-EAGA. Davao City was named host for 2010 but with the cancellation of this year’s event and the change of leadership in the LGU level, the issue will have to be settled first.

There are other possible sites like Gen. Santos and Sarangani and Cagayan de Oro City. GenSan and Sarangani is a possible contender mainly because of the possible support it can draw from P-4-P champ and Congressman Manny Pacquiao. The drawback is that other focus areas may no longer be interested because they have been there. The Games, envisioned to promote not only sports but tourism within the focus areas, was co-hosted by Gensan and Sarangani when it was first held in 1996. But we never know. Perhaps Congressman Pacquiao can take it from here.

Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental is a possible host with a very active sports and tourism program under Governor Oscar Moreno. MisOr recently inaugurated a three-storey boxing headquarters.

Hosting rights will be short-listed to major cities in Mindanao with security as a primary consideration. Chair Garcia will be identifying the host after consultations with the PSC Board and the LGUs concerned. Commissioner Chito Loy-zaga will be the PSC Board’s designated in-charge of the Games.

Of all the cities mentioned, there was an expression of great interest in Davao City among the BIMP-EAGA sports council members. The reps of Brunei and Labuan insisted on Davao City. All that, however, will have to wait for now.

Chair Garcia is not about to make a leap without looking. Question now is: will Davao City be interested to host the Games in 2012?

For one, Davao City will have to consolidate its directions in sports. Identify who really maps out the blueprint for sports and what it desires to achieve. There are so many flies out there. As my friend Kermit the Frog says: “life’s fun when you have more flies.”