Pleasant Reminders from Yulo and Petecio

Pleasant Reminders from Yulo and Petecio

When Gilas Pilipinas crashed out of the FIBA Basketball World Cup without winning a single game, bashers came out with guns ablazing. “Why do you support only basketball,” they asked. “Support other sports!” they screamed. While bashers were at it, some were even more daring to “advise” MVP to throw his support behind sports aside from basketball. The general consensus was that MVP supported only basketball and nothing else. True or false? With social media and the traditional media partly to blame, it did appear that MVP didn’t support any other sport. After all, he does have three teams in the PBA and supports at least a team each in UAAP an NCAA college basketball. But is it his fault that basketball is the top sport in the land that draws the largest audiences, markets and following?

Around a month or so after the FIBA debacle, two athletes stood out and won world championships in different sports. Take a bow, Nesthy Petecio for winning gold in the AIBA World Boxing Championships for women’s boxing in Russia, and Caloy Yulo for winning the gold medal in floor exercises of the World Gymnastics Championships in Germany. Another boxer, Eumir Marcial won the silver medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships for men’s boxing. Along with EJ Obiena who recently qualified for the pole vault event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, they have become the latest sports heroes in this basketball-mad country of ours. With these latest wins, I was expecting the bashers to come out with guns ablazing anew asking for MVP and the country’s top businessmen about their support for other sports. Surprisingly, the bashing was quiet. Nobody screamed nor yelled. Why? Because MVP does support other sports. Through the MVP Sports Foundation, MVP has provided support for sports such as boxing, gymnastics, weightlifting, skating, badminton, cycling, football, rugby, golf, taekwondo and others. Yes, I may sound biased, but after having gotten to know the MVPSF a bit more since the start of the year, I’ve also gotten to appreciate even more how basketball is not the only sport the MVPSF supports. It wasn’t surprising to note that the MVPSF helped Caloy Yulo as he trained in Japan and competed in various gymnastics events. Boxing has always been supported by the MVPSF with MVP’s men managing the affairs of ABAP, the national sports governing body for amateur boxing. At a recent courtesy call made on MVP, Petecio and Yulo received a bonus of P1M each and brand new iPhones from Smart.

MVPSF President Al S. Panlilio released a timely statement. “The Filipino athlete will always have an ally in the MVP Sports Foundation. We know we have world class athletes and we know they can be the best in the world if they get the support they need.In less than 24 hours, two Filipino athletes were crowned as the best in the world with gymnast Carlos Yulo and boxer Nesthy Petecio. The MVPSF is proud to have played a part in their success and their victories only inspire us to continue our efforts towards getting our first Olympic Gold”.

And so the argument continues, or should it really? To me, there is no argument. In what sport can we win the first every Olympic gold medal? What sport should the country be focusing on for support? It’s true that we’ll never win a world gold in basketball, football or volleyball. And it’s obvious that answers have already been provided, with concrete “gold” proof to support this. Individual sports that don’t give too much importance to height and where the playing field is level are the best chances for a world or Olympic gold. When Hidilyn Diaz won the silver medal at the Rio Olympics, she was of the same weight as her peers and competitors. The same is true for boxing as categories are also made by weight. The tough part in world amateur boxing is all the politicking that takes place in international boxing aside from the alleged corruption and cheating that takes place. Gymnastics isn’t based on weight but one doesn’t have to be big and tall to become a world-class gymnast. In fact, the world’s best gymnasts are short, muscular and strong, swak na swak for us Pinoys, di ba?

Another question is who should be supporting these sports? Government or somebody else? I think it’s clear that both share in the responsibility. However, we have to admit that when the government gets in the way, it comes with a lot of excess baggage called controversies, issues, politics and more. Fortunately under PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez, things are looking so much better. The Philippine Olympic Committee, a private entity, has had its shares of controversies, including the resignation of a newly-installed president who was supposed to do some cleansing among the nation’s national sports associations. I don't even want to go into details but one can see that the well-managed NSA’s are the ones that reach their targets in international competition. And the ones that are bogged down by intrigue and controversy aren’t getting anywhere or getting somewhere very slowly. Getting generous support from either the private or public sector is no guaranty in winning international golds. The formula is clear. A well run program, generous support from the government, private sector and the country are the key ingredients to producing international wins. At the end of the day it’s all about team effort working together, para sa bayan.

MVP with Petecio, Yulo & Marcial. Also in the photo are MVPSF President Al Panlilio, Exec. Director Ryan Gregorio, Marketing Head Maita David, Rommel Garrovillas and Lean Aure.