On to SEAG for bereaved Saguisag lass

The tragic death of her mother will not stop artistic gymnast Kaissa Saguisag from pursuing her dreams of winning the gold in the 24th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December.

According to Chuck Buenaventura, president of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines, the 16-year-old Kaissa has even decided to dedicate her coming stint in the SEA Games to her mother.

Dulce Saguisag, the tireless secretary-general of the GAP and wife of former Senator and human rights advocate Rene Saguisag, was killed in an early-morning vehicular accident Thursday.

The former senator was still confined in the hospital and was initially reported to be in critical condition. But he is said to be responding to the doctors now. The driver is also in critical condition.

“I’ve talked to Kaissa and I even told her that the decision is hers – whether she would like to continue or not. But she said she would. She’s been training so hard for this SEA Games,” said Buenaventura.

“Then I told her she has to dedicate this to her mother who’s always been with her when she goes out of the country to compete. Her parents have always been behind her,” Buenaventura said.

The GAP president said the death of Saguisag is “a great loss” because the latter has been working so hard instituting reforms and coming up with new programs for the national athletes.

“And they’ve been very helpful. Everything seems to be in place already. We’re now at a higher level than before. She’s a very big loss to the sport and now we have to find a replacement,” added Buenaventura.

But it won’t be easy.

“Of course, it will be very, very difficult to find a suitable replacement,” added the GAP head who is expected to sit down with the board soon, and even the athletes, to discuss the matter.

Former national team head coach Sonny Ty, whose recent resignation forced some of the top gymnasts to bolt out of the GAP, echoed Buenaventura’s sentiment that Saguisag is “a very big loss.”

“It’s tragic. It makes you forget about everything (controversies) and make you remember all her contributions to the sport. I don’t know how it can move on after this tragedy,” said Ty.