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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| What Happened to Us? By Antonio C. Abaya Written August 17, 2004 For Manila Standard, August 19 issue The question was posed by history columnist Ambeth R. Ocampo in the August 13 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. With the Athens Olympics very much in the public�s mind these days, Ocampo titled his column �Far Eastern Olympics� to put this country�s participation in international sports in historical perspective, and has come up with some interesting details. Among them: The precursor of today�s Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games was the Far Eastern Olympic Games, which was first proposed to China and Japan in 1912 by E. S. Brown, president of the Philippine Athletic Association. The bi-annual Games were inaugurated in Manila in January 1913, the second Games were held in Shanghai in 1915, the third in Tokyo in 1917, where they were renamed the Far Eastern Championship Games. Eventually they became known simply as the Far Eastern Games. It is interesting to note that the Games were confined to the Philippines, China and Japan. Apparently the British in what was then Malaya and the Straits Settlements, the Dutch in what was then Dutch East Indies and Dutch New Guinea, and the French in what was then French Indo-China had no interest whatsoever in immersing their native wards in competitive athletics. Why not, we can only guess. By the 1921 Shanghai Games, the Philippines (under the Americans) had become THE major athletic power among the three countries and, according to Ocampo, �won in practically all events except the five-mile run, the pentathlon and the 440-meter swimming event.� Japan was our strongest rival, China was a poor third. (One of my uncles, the swimmer Angel Abaya, was a medalist during these Games Our experience in the Far Eastern Games honed us for the Summer Olympics in the 30s, [1932 in Los Angeles, 1936 in Berlin] where Filipino athletes, still trained by the Americans, won silver and bronze medals in several events, including the high-jump and the 110-meter hurdles, and our basketball team made it to the semi-finals.) �Today,� laments Ocampo, �China and Japan are formidable athletic teams. What happened to us?� Simply put, Ambeth, other Asian countries (not only China and Japan) just got better, while the Philippines stagnated or even deteriorated. In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, China won 59 medals (28 golds, 16 silvers, 15 bronzes); South Korea 28 (8-9-11); Japan 18 (5-8-5); Indonesia 6 (1-3-2); Thailand 3 (1-0-2); Cambodia 1 (1-0-0); Taiwan 5 (0-1-4); and Vietnam 1 (0-1-0). We won nothing. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, so far, after only four days of competition, China has won 18 medals (10-6-2); Japan 9 (6-2-1); South Korea 4 (1-1-2); Thailand 3 (1-0-2); and Indonesia 1 (0-1-0). So far, we haven�t won anything. It�s been the story of our national life since Independence in1946. We seem to be hexed with a culture of stagnation and deterioration, at best a muddling-along mediocrity. Not only in sports, but in other fields as well: economic growth, standard of living, quality of education, agricultural productivity, industrial output, tourist arrivals, schoolchildren�s rating in science and math, quality of air, command of English�.the list keeps getting depressingly longer. Our previous pre-eminence in sports in the region, nurtured by the Americans, was directly related to the public school system (where promising athletes were spotted and trained) established by the Americans, who sought to educate the broad mass of Filipinos, unlike the British, the Dutch and the French who provided education only to the children of the collaborating indigenous elites. The result was that when we regained our independence in 1946, we enjoyed a literacy rate of 67%, compared to only 9% among the Indonesians, and only 15% among the Malays and the Vietnamese, when they regained their independence from the Dutch, the British and the French. The University of the Philippines was founded, by the Americans, in 1908. By 1946, we already had thousands of university graduates from all socio-economic classes, probably more than what all our neighbors had, combined. Add to this hundreds of Filipinos who graduated from US universities, including my father and his friends who went to Cornell and Harvard in the late 1920s. For better or for worse, and whether or not the communists and the nationalists will admit it, the Philippines enjoyed a rich inheritance from the Americans in public education and public health (and the corollary excellence in sports). That we squandered all this after 1946 is nobody�s fault but our own. More specifically, the fault of our political leaders. Our public school system is now in shambles, plagued by perennial shortages of classrooms, books, desks and good teachers, the best of whom are now working as maids and care-givers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Europe. Not surprisingly, our athletic program, such as it is, is also plagued by perennial shortages��.of Olympic medals. Manuel L. Quezon, whose birth anniversary we observe today, is best remembered for his one-liner from the 1930s, that �I would rather see a government run like hell by Filipinos, than a government run like heaven by the Americans.� He certainly got his wish. And yet it cannot be said that Filipinos are not sports-minded. We definitely are. The immense popularity these days of badminton among the Filipino middle class (as was pelota to an earlier generation) shows that we are not necessarily a nation of couch potatoes just because our harvest of Olympic medals is so thin as to be almost invisible. What seems to be lacking is a conscious and methodical government effort to discover and develop young athletic talents in any sport. None of our political leaders (except possibly Ferdinand Marcos) have ever shown any appreciation of athletic excellence and none have seen in it the potentials for nation-building and for instilling positive personal virtues like dedication, hard work and self-discipline. I am amazed that the Arroyo Government has not done anything to capitalize on the recent international victories of boxer Manny Pacquiao and billiards pros Bata Reyes and Django Bustamante in the way of a grassroots campaign to develop more potential champions in these two sports. Indonesia, which is a world power in badminton, maintains a National Badminton Center precisely to develop young talents to become the badminton world champions of the future. Our government�s (not just the present one) idea of developing Olympic champions is to offer a one-million peso reward for any Filipino athlete who wins an Olympic gold. How and where you go about training to win it is entirely your concern and yours alone. What a pity. We who are demoralized by so many shortcomings in our daily national life are aching to cling on to something that will reinforce our sagging self-esteem. Excellence in sports is a potential pepper-upper, if only our political leaders would learn to harness it, as the leaders of socialist countries did in their time, as the leaders of China and Cuba still do. Since 1972, Cuba has won 27 Olympic gold medals in boxing alone. Imagine what that has done for Cuban self-pride. I recall that during the last Southeast Asian Games staged in Manila (in 1991), when the medal race was reduced to a slugging match between the Philippines and Indonesia, we experienced a surge of patriotic feelings. Without any prodding from anyone, many Filipinos spontaneously displayed the Philippine flag in their homes or attached small Philippine flags to the antennae of their cars, to show support for and pride in our teams. In the end, we lost to Indonesia, but by only one medal. But we felt good because our athletes played so well and put up such a spirited defense of what we instinctively felt was our national honor. Just like during the EDSA Uprising of 1986, we experienced in 1991 a patriotic high that we have not experienced again since. ***** My articles appear every Thursday in the Manila Standard and every Saturday in the Philippines Free Press. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �What Happened to Us?� Hi, Tony Yap, I agree with all what you said. And in addition, don't you think it is also because we have been too focused, as a people on basketball, where we really do not possess the natural advantages to become world champions. at least until such time that they classify the olympic basketball competition according to height. And to think winning in basketball would only mean one gold while winning in the track and field events, swimming, martial arts would mean several golds. May be if the money and resources being channeled to basketball was just diverted to these sports where we have better chances of becoming world champion, then together with a long term grass root developmental sports program, we may still improve our standings in international competition. Bobby Tordesillas, [email protected] August 19, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww In sports , politics, and economy we are now the worst in asia. We are just a good talker or commentator but not a good doer. We cant execute our idea on hand onliy in thinking. Still we have time, evrybody should stop too much talking, its time to coordinate and do things together. We should put our ideas on hand. I'm willing to give the ten percent of my income to our country for at least one year to save our economy. Can all of filipino will follow me. Parang tingting yan pagpinagsamasama mo pwuede ng walisin ang kahirapan ng pilipinas. kaya nating ibangon ang pilipinas. One year lang naman ng income natin at ten percent lang , mahirap man siya o mayaman. If we can spend on vices, kaya rin natin ang magbigay na may katuturan. Please publish this , ask all filipino if they really llike to have a better philippines. And this time no alibis and evrybody should willing. Those who are not willing they should keep their mouth shut. Hindi batas ito only voluntarily by those filipino who are real filipino in heart and in mind. Nanawagan din ako sa MILF AND NPA TO GIVE CHANCE TO PEACE LET US SHOW TO THE WORLD THAT WE ARE FIRST ONE TO DO IT. THE REAL ENEMY IS POVERTY, BUT IF WE FIGHT EACH OTHER WE CANT FIGHT POVERTY. IN FACT AT THIS TIME POVERTY IS THE REAL WINNER. ONLY PEACE AND COORDINATION CAN DEFEAT IT. LET US DO IT FOR AT LEAST FIVER YEARS, PAG WALANG NANGYARI DI AWAY ULI. BUT I KNOW WE CAN ACHIEVE THESE GOOD THINGS BAGO MATAPOS ANG LIMANG TAON. LIFE IS SHORT, LET US DO GOOD THINGS THIS TIME, PLEASE. AND I ASK MRS. PRESIDENT TO HAVE TRANSPARANCY IN THE GOVERNMENT THIS TIME. Alexander Carranceja, [email protected] August 19, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I think what happened is we have allowed the government to grow too big and to influence every aspect of our life. We depend so much on it now so that, when a top government official sneezes, we all get the virus and get sick. I now sit in the Advisory Panel, as a business sector representative, for the preparation of the next Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan. My first advice to the government-dominated panel is for all government agencies to have a public-private partnership (PPP) program. That should be the focus of the structural reform in government. The "small" budget of each government agency should be used as a catalyst to bring about private sector (both business & industry and civil society) participation in its work. That way, the government will stop expanding, yet be able to do more in partnership with the other sectors. When I did my second "draft" in government as Senior Adviser to the DENR, during the time of former DENR Sec. Heherson Alvarez, we started a program on private sector investment and cooperation. We also started the development of a PPP program covering the regulatory function of the DENR. When DENR Sec. Elisea Gozun took over, the Philippine Environment Partnership Program (PEPP) was one of the first that she approved through Department Administrative Order No. 2003-14. Hence, the DENR has now institutionalized PPP. We, in the private sector, are now helping the DENR implement it. We are happy to note that Pres. GMA recognizes the importance of PPP. At her pre-SONA speech before the business community, she instructed the DTI Secretary to institutionalize PPP. All the other agencies must now also do so, not only the DTI, in addition to the DENR. With PPP, much of our country's resources and power will be shared and not just be controlled by one sector, the government and the politicians. Thanks for including me in your mailing list. I always enjoy reading your column. Cora Claudio, [email protected] August 20, 2004 Corazon PB. Claudio, Ph.D. Co-Chair, Environment Committee, Management Association of the Philippines Trustee, Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww It seems we cannot expect our government to do something good in almost anything. Can the private sector do the job in sports? Magdaleno Albarracin, [email protected] August 20, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, The UP was founded in 1908, not 1905. Mahar Mangahas, [email protected] August 20, 2004 MY REPLY. Thanks for the correction, Mahar. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww |
| Very sad, but we shouldn�t despair for the next generations� sake. Let�s inspire everyone around us to do his best in whatever he is tasked to do. Congratulations on your excellent, though depressing, articles. Keep on writing. Thanks for having me on your email list. Lydia B. Echauz President, Far Eastern University September 01, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I can relate to the frustration of sports in the Philippines. (I was once a National Player) The problem lies on the people running the associations. They all rely on the cofers of the Government. In other words, just like beggards, waiting for some drops of crumbs for their daily food. I have been telling people I know in government and in the sports association, the most sane solution is to draft a proposed bill in Congress to make contributions to Phil sports association tax deductable to infuse the necessary funds to uplift the conditions of our sports association. The government is BANKRUPT! so don't rely on their monetary support. My advises have fallen into deaf ears time and again. I then ask the question, WHY? I can only guess as to the answer. Fact, It has been printed, there are now government elective officials who once were officials of these sports associations that to this date have not liquidated their cash advances, which run into millions of pesos. Could this be the reason for their deaf ears? They know for a fact that No questions will be asked if the funds from the Government cofers as compared to, if derived from private corporations (as suggested) they are going to be subjected to a strict audit by the private accountants or else the private sponsor won't get their tax credit they will badly need? Sayang talaga, some of them don't even know the sport they are representing, sohow does anyone expect anything from them? This is the state of our sports association sorry to say, It all boils down to money,money,money issue! for those running the sports association. Sorry guys, you don't have the drive and the initiative to excell coz you guys are not focused on the sport. Jose Genato, [email protected] August 30, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww |
I can relate to the frustration of sports in the Philippines. (I was once a National Player) The problem lies on the people running the associations. They all rely on the coffers of the Government. In other words, just like beggars, waiting for some drops of crumbs for their daily food. I have been telling people I know in government and in the sports association, the most sane solution is to draft a proposed bill in Congress to make contributions to Phil sports association tax deductible to infuse the necessary funds to uplift the conditions of our sports association. The government is BANKRUPT! so don't rely on their monetary support. My advises have fallen into deaf ears time and again. I then ask the question, WHY? I can only guess as to the answer. Fact, It has been printed, there are now government elective officials who once were officials of these sports associations that to this date have not liquidated their cash advances, which run into millions of pesos. Could this be the reason for their deaf ears? They know for a fact that No questions will be asked if the funds from the Government coffers as compared to, if derived from private corporations (as suggested) they are going to be subjected to a strict audit by the private accountants or else the private sponsor won't get their tax credit they will badly need? Sayang talaga, some of them don't even know the sport they are representing, so how does anyone expect anything from them? This is the state of our sports association sorry to say, It all boils down to money, money ,money issue! for those running the sports association. Sorry guys, you don't have the drive and the initiative to excel coz you guys are not focused on the sport. Jose Genato, [email protected] August 23, 2004 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |