Years ago, then president of Adidas Philippines Philip Go expressed his apprehension to come to Davao citing that it is “magulo sa Mindanao”.
Oh yes, Davao is in Mindanao and the late manong Vic Sai, the Davao organizer, assured him repeatedly that everything will be just fine.
And so the Adidas Streetball came to Davao that time and the year after and every year. Many thanks, of course, to the peace and order program of Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Philippine Sports Commission consultant Dr.Henry Daut had a different story, though.
The PSC event was held in Marawi City, miles and miles away from Davao, and the Maute Group wrought havoc to the city.
It is but natural that every coach, athlete and PSC official will be scared because what happened was unexpected.
Days prior to the event, Dr.Daut assured the participants that Marawi is peaceful.
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
Fortunately, all sports participants were accounted for and everyone is safe.
Any conflict is any province or city in Mindanao is bad for sports development.
My point is that there should an end to the conflicts or else sports will never progress in the island.
We dreamed of a peaceful and progressive Mindanao because one day, sports development will be in full swing and that we always believe that sports development is as basic as food, clothing, shelter and health care.
That is what PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez inculcated in our minds and that is exactly the reason why we love and work hard for sports development.
We know that the conflict is not easy to resolve but every Mindanaoan should make peacekeeping efforts a part of his or her daily life.
Any unusual movements in the area, armed or not armed, should be reported immediately to the authorities.
All Mindanaoans, young and old, deserve a peaceful way of life.
Every Mindanaoan deserve to enjoy sports, any time of the day, in every city, in every province.
Sports is happiness.
Sports is unity.
Sports is friendship.
Sports is love my friends.
Sports for Peace Mindanao executive director, my dear sir Ed Fernandez, mentioned one time that the sports for peace program will be revived soon.
We are not giving up, right dear sir Edfer?
We pray that scary incidents like the one in Marawi won’t be repeated specially when sports events are organized in the area.
Let there be peace in Mindanao for the benefit of sports development!
