Filipino sport, global battle

Today is the second day of the Smart World Arnis Open (WAO) at the SM Mall of Asia music hall. Yesterday, more than a hundred participants in the anyo (forms) competition from all over the country entered. The southernmost team came from General Santos City. The Philippine Air Force and Valenzuela each sent large delegations early.

This is the biggest arnis event in recent history, with the Philippine Council of Kali Escrima Arnis Masters (PCKEAM) taking the lead in organizing the event in memory of the late Grandmaster Roland Dantes.

Today, the sparring bouts begin for the national open. The winners will compete against seven other countries that have sent teams. The delegation from Italy stayed the whole day to watch the anyo competition, and scout some of their possible opponents for today.

There were several challenges in putting up the event. First was acquiring the venue. This is the first international event of this size in the sport, held in the cavernous MOA music hall. Fortunately, sponsors like Smart, Stix and Harbour Centre threw their support behind the sport, which was made the official martial art of the country by law last December. The late signing into law actually made it difficult to find more sponsors, since budgets for the year were already established.

Still, the large turnout is indicative of how starved arnisadores are for competition. The last major event of the PCKEAM was the Smart National Youth Open in April. However, the council’s leadership pushed for more activities, to help stimulate competitiveness and create opportunities for its members to officiate, and so on. The council is also planning a fund-raiser for national athletes to the Asian Games in December, even though the sport is not recognized in the region.

Unfortunately, the organizers received reports that Arnis Philippines was prohibiting its members and officers from participating, even though it was an open event and anyone was welcome. One ARPI officer who requested anonymity said that he was verbally forbidden from even attending the WAO, with an unspecified punishment being used as a threat. A text message, purportedly emanating from ARPI instructed all members not to join any “non-sanctioned” events or tournaments. The text said they would lose their standing and lose their standing for the Southeast Asian Games, etc.

Just to clarify, in March of 2009, then Philippine Sports Commission chair Harry Angping ordered the suspension of funding to Arnis Philippines because the national sports association was not part of two successive Southeast Asian Games. The fact of the matter is that the NSA has been rendered irrelevant, except for the occasions when there is a need to form a national team for competition overseas, which almost never happens anymore.

The question now is why they would do that, considering that they are supposed to be for the propagation of the sport. Apparently, that is no more the main goal of the NSA. An insider said that even when another group is non-threatening and all the officials want to do is compete, they are not allowed to. Many of them end up abandoning the group out of disappointment, or being eased out.

The good news is that the WAO has received great response from European countries. PCKEAM’s group in Italy has already offered to host the WAO in 2012. Apparently, they want to face Filipino masters on their home turf. That is one concrete example that the organization is getting something done, and helping promote the sport without the politics.

At the end of the day, it is all about performance. Who gets participants, sponsors and proper venues? Who spreads the sport to more people? Who provides jobs for the arnis masters? Who tried to help and reunify the sport?

That’s the bottomline.