Juico running for Asian athletics’ vice presidency

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico is running for the vice presidency of the powerful Asian Athletics Association.

AAA’s secretary general Maurice Nicholas, who has been with the association since 1973, accepted the candidacy of Juico, thereby affirming the body’s recognition of the former Philippine Sports Commission chairman to the presidency of the local athletics’ association.

“I will push for the AAA’s support for the creation of the ASEAN Athletics Integration, which mimics the ASEAN Economic Integration using the ASEAN as one athletic development platform with each country assigned a specific role to play like championing and/or being the center of excellence for a particular athletics event/discipline,” said Juico, who proposed this approach in November last year in Singapore when presidents of the athletics associations of ASEAN met to discuss the debacle of ASEAN in athletics in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

“I will also bat for the further strengthening of the ‘Kids in Athletics’ program by working closely, in the Philippines, with the Department of Education. I will also totally support the emerging  concept of ‘Street Athletics’ which promotes the sport of athletics among ordinary lay persons by converting ordinary roads and thoroughfares for brief specific times in the city into mini-tracks and ovals. This can be done in close coordination with local authorities so as not to exacerbate traffic conditions in various localities. In short, bring athletics literally to the grassroots,” added Juico, a former Cabinet member (Agrarian Reform) of the Cory Aquino administration.

Juico, who is now busy preparing for the 2015 Philippine National Open-Invitational Athletics Championships in Sta. Cruz, Laguna on March 19 to 22, said the Philippines plays a huge role in Asian athletics.

“It was through the efforts of the late Gov. Jose Sering, father of PATAFA vice president Nicanor (Boy) Sering that the then AAAA or Four A’s (Asian Amateur Athletic Association) was born on Nov. 21, 1973 during the first Asian Athletics Championships held in Marikina. The PATAFA therefore has a special responsibility and obligation to play an active role in the AAA because of Gov. Sering’s legacy. In addition, my predecessor, Go Teng Kok is one of only five honorary vice presidents of the AAA. By being active in the AAA, we will be in a better position to lobby for more outside, non-government assistance for athletics development. If we produce results as a vice president, our country will stand to benefit,” said Juico.

“We have, according to our advisers, a fair chance of winning although it will entail a lot of hard work. The Philippines is not a member of any of the committees of the AAA and neither is it a member of the Council. We can say that it is our time now and that we should also be given a chance to serve much in the same way that other countries have been around serving Asian athletics with distinction for several decades. In short, it’s time for new blood, new ideas coming from experienced professional managers with substantial experience in government, sports, corporate life and development work,” he said.