A few weeks ago, a representative from the UNESCO and officials from the Philippine Sports Institute, the Philippine Sports Commission and Sports for Peace met and discussed some plans.
This week, the first UNESCO-PSI-PSC event is happening at the PhilSports in Pasig City.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO for short, is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris organized to “building peace in the minds of men and women”.
Since the establishment of the PSC in 1990, this is the first time that UNESCO has closely worked with the country’s sports agency and that’s because PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez and his team have been very serious in building a peaceful country through sports.
Chairman Ramirez, a son of Mindanao, serving this time a President, Mayor Rody Duterte, also from Mindanao has been working hard in the past to propel the sports for peace program to greater heights.
It took off during his first term as PSC chairman but the change of administration has halted this noble program.
With UNESCO coming in, this will, I believe, level up things in this country plagued by greedy sports leaders with no clear sports direction at all because of all the squabblings that have been going on.
The sports for peace program fits in with UNESCO’s mandate to “building peace in the minds of men and women”.
Chairman Ramirez looks at the Sports for Peace program to continue for the next 100 years and he intends to put in place a solid foundation in the Philippines and that will be his legacy.
Believe me with all the problems in the Philippine Olympic Committee in Manila and sports associations that have remained problematic, there will be no clear direction for sports development in this country. Unless, of course, you declare some sort of a “revolutionary government” and replace all POC officials and their staff with the right people.
The Sports for Peace program has a very clear direction as to why sports development should be supported by not only Mindanaoans but by all Filipinos.
To me, at this moment, this is the only genuine sports program that I can see.
The rest? Ambot lang.
