Buhain exhorts Pinoy bets to give their best

ATHENS (Via Globe Telecom) — Don’t let this chance slip away.

In a few chosen words, this was how Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Eric Buhain exhorted the Filipino athletes who are all hoping for the best in the 28th Olympic Games here.

Buhain, a swimmer who won a total of 15 gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games, including six in its 1991 staging in Manila, visited the RP quarters inside the Olympic Village Saturday afternoon to meet the athletes.

The PSC chairman missed most of the 16 Filipino athletes who were out either in the competition or training venues. Buhain came with his wife, Batangas Rep. Eileen Ermita Buhain, and Tourism Secretary Roberto "Obet" Pagdanganan.

The tourism official who is also chairman of the 2005 Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc), is here as the official representative of President Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

"There are many who dream of earning slots in the Olympics, but only a few are lucky to make it," Buhain stressed. "Now that you are here, you have a rare opportunity to attain greatness. Don’t let this chance slip away."

The Filipino athletes who had the chance to meet Buhain were swimmers Miguel Mendoza, Miguel Molina, Timmy Chua, JB Walsh and Jaclyn Pangilinan, and long jump specialist Lerma Bulauitan Gabito.

Buhain congratulated the swimmers putting up a fight last Saturday and urged them to continue training hard for next year’s SEA Games where the Philippines, as President Arroyo had said, should leave no stone unturned in its bid to win the overall title.

Pagdanganan, who joined the RP delegation in Friday night’s opening ceremony, also asked the swimmers to keep on training "because we need you for the 2005 SEA Games."

Pagdanganan said "we should start planning to win" by investing on trainors, coaches – local and foreign – and upgraded facilities.

"We are already far behind Asians like the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese and even our neighbors," Pagdanganan said. "If we don’t move now, we’d be left far, far behind."

The Tourism official said it’s time for Filipinos to "forget sports where we don’t stand a chance of winning and concentrate on those events where height and weight don’t matter."

"Let basketball entertain us, like what they do in the PBA. But let’s not entertain hopes that we can be the best in the sport. I’ve seen how big and how tall cagers from other countries like the US, Angola, China and Italy are," added Pagdanganan.

Pagdanganan admitted that, at the moment, "government pays little attention to sports. But that’s because we lack resources. We should therefore try to tap the private sector to help us improve the quality of coaching — and ultimately raise the standard of sports." — Lito A. Tacujan