If I sound too selfish, please, I beg your forgiveness.
But, let me go straight to my point.
Without a national leader sitting in Malacanang, who is from Mindanao, don’t expect a Mindanaoan to be appointed in the government’s national sports agency.
Since 1990, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has, so far, seen the appointment of three commissioners to the Board.
First, it was coach William “Butch” Ramirez during the time of President Erap, thanks to the indorsements of Mindanao political leaders. If you can recall, manong Fred Lumba, a columnist of Malaya then, was the name that was supposed to be appointed but when the official announcement came out, it was Ateneo de Davao sports director and former Davao City Sports Development Division officer-in-charge Ramirez.
That’s politics, my friends.
Then came Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP)-Davao City commissioner and former Davao City sports consultant Leon “Binggoy” Montemayor during the time of President Gloria M. Arroyo.
When Mayor Digong won in the presidential race in 2016, naturalmente, who would be appointed?
It must be from Mindanao!
Butch Ramirez’s appointment was not a surprise. Naturalmente, the good chairman tagged along sports editor and Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) president Charles Raymond A. Maxey, who was given the commissionership and tasked to oversee the Mindanao Island.
My 300 plus Ilocano relatives may not like what I will write but forgive me, this is the reality with politics.
The PSC is under the Office of the President. If Mayor Inday Sara is the President of the Republic, naturalmente, the PSC will be headed by a Mindanaoan.
If former Senator Bongbong Marcos wins as president, I would not expect a Mindanaoan to be the next PSC chief. I would expect an Ilocano, of course.
Unless there are some negotiations to be done or the presence of a strong lobbyist group, you may see Butch Ramirez doing a hat-trick!
My only agenda?
The continuation of the Sports for Peace Program in Mindanao.
When chairman Ramirez went home and was no longer with the PSC, luckily, Mayor Digong was around to have him back as sports consultant, Ateneo de Davao University welcome him back with open arms as sports director and we got our DSA adviser back!
The only problem was that we don’t have the same financial resources.
Coach Butch opened a small office of the Sports for Peace Movement and it was run by volunteers.
Asa man ang uban tung panahon naa pa sa PSC si Butch Ramirez? Nangawala na!
You get my point?
It’s human nature for those who are in power to be “attractive” in whatever shape or form.
And if they are no longer in power and considered “retired”, people who used to hang out with him also got “tired” for reasons that are too obvious. They are not his friends when the flow of milk and honey has stopped! Na hubas na. Di na gani mo bisita sa balay sa Bangkal, kung naa pa bay dukot nabilin sa kaldero.
Naturalmente, that’s what life is all about.
If you check our history, since 1898, it was only in 2016 that we have a President from Mindanao. And from what I heard, Malacanan Palace was like Davao City Hall because almost everyone there was speaking Bisaya.
What would you expect? That’s how it is.
Long time ago, some of my Ilocano relatives would be in a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos, naturalmente, they are Ilocanos!
Di ba ana lang?
Let me be frank with you. I was raised to be apolitical by my old man Marcial, who is a public school teacher. So, I grew up having only one partido in my mind, Sports, that’s it.
When my great grandmom Claudia Lucero attempted to bring presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos to my old man, he politely declined. Ipa ila ila ra gud unta to. He has maintained his apolitical stance. Wala lang. Di lang gud siya. This is in contrast to his cousin, radio broadcaster Berting Belocura, who was deeply into politics.
However, as I grew up, I have come to understand and accept, that without the help of political leaders and their trusted lieutenants, a sports agenda can never gain traction and in the process be never a reality without their help.
Papang Marcial was even surprised to see me serving City Hall during the third term of Mayor Digong. “I never thought you’ll be interested to be in government”, he said. I replied by saying, “I’m just helping Butch Ramirez”. So, I have to take a break from my teaching post at Holy Cross of Davao College, my beloved alma mater who has given me so many opportunities, to focus on Sports Development Division management, although I have continued to be a sportswriter.
Luckily, we have Butch Ramirez as our mentor and with the guidance of City Hall executives like chief-of-staff Patmei Bello Ruivivar, Oca Casaysay and Tisay, Jun Escalada, Lina Justol, among others, we were able to “survive”.
You see, we are from the private sector and entering a “strange territory” called City Hall was very challenging.
The sports community in Davao are very well versed of what happened that year, a history in the making, that saw a “corporate takeover” of a sports office that has become very unpopular among sports leaders.
Ang nabilin sa Room 10 that year was only the utility worker.
So, as you can see, the PSC has become a very successful sports agency because Mayor Digong is president and City Hall executive assistant and sportsman Bong Go has become a Senator. Ana lang. You’ve read and seen it on TV, heard over the radio, their sterling accomplishments by backing the various sports organizations and building the needed sports infrastructure.
The flow of milk and honey has continued to flow that benefitted the sports sector in the country. Busog lusog.
Sa tinood lang, there was a high expectation that Mayor Inday will run for President but this has not happened.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not against former senator Bongbong Marcos.
I don’t want my Ilocano relatives to get mad at me or my beloved dead family members would visit me in my dreams, telling me to remove the photos of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos that have been hanging on the walls of my Mamang Lolita’s room.
Naturalmente, for a Mindanao-born and sports observer like me, I worry that the PSC Boys will not be able to continue the Sports for Peace Program, simply, because there will be a new leader along the already clean Pasig River.
A president from Mindanao naturally secures a noble program to be continued because they know what’s going on.
The Sports for Peace movement is the only sports program that has been designed to be long-term, life-long that will have a long-lasting impact to the next generation of Filipinos.
The other Manila-based programs, sure, they are okay, but they have not been that impactful to the peacekeeping efforts by the PSC Board of Commissioners.
For example, Professors Ed R. Fernandez, our executive director, and Henry C. Daut of the Philippine Sports Institute have been planting sports seeds in Jolo with the help of Father Romeo Saniel of Notre Dame College of Jolo and his team of volunteers.
If this is not sustained for the next six years, that sports seeds will dry up and die.
That’s my only reason why the next president should be from Mindanao.
However, if Bongbong Marcos reads this and understands the sentiments of sports for peace volunteers in Mindanao, especially those who are in Jolo, then we hope that he considers keeping the movement going should he win the presidential race next year with Mayor Inday as VP.
Allow me to refresh our memory as to why the Sports for Peace Mindanao was born.
“VISION
Peoples celebrating life in sports.
MISSIONS
Our mission is to make sports a vehicle to strengthen the emotional well-being of individuals, the character of peoples and the souls of the nation; to make sports a way to promote dialogue, harmony and understanding among nations and communities of different cultures, traditions and beliefs; to make sports an avenue for people to share cultures, values, and beliefs thereby fostering greater understanding, respect, and brotherhood among nations and communities.
GOALS
A stable human resource development program and a strong advocacy programs to make sports a way of life and an intervention in conflict areas to promote peace.”
Agyamanak.
