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| Manny V. Pangilinan |
MVP has a handful sports under his giant wings. They are basketball, boxing, taekwondo, badminton, tennis, baseball, cycling, running and very recently, soccer.
Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia said Pangilinan sat down with Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco regarding the SEA Games.
“There’s no official word yet but I heard they already talked about this. Up to what extent will MVP’s help for the SEA Games is, we don’t really know yet,” said Garcia.
“But definitely, it’s welcome. From what I heard he will be fully supporting basketball, boxing, taekwondo and badminton. It’s a big help,” said the PSC chairman.
The PSC has earmarked only P30 million for the actual participation of the Filipino athletes to this year’s SEA Games, and the amount is certainly not enough.
There are close to 600 athletes wanting to be part of the Philippine delegation, and with only P30 million, the PSC cannot fund all of them at a ratio of P100,000 per athlete.
And once Pangilinan announces that he will cover the expenses for the four sports in his mind, then it should open the doors to more athletes to be funded by the PSC.
“That’s why this early, we would like to thank Mr. Pangilinan. We’ve always been thankful, especially in these times where we have very limited budget,” said Garcia.
Pangilinan is hell bent in supporting the Philippine basketball team in its dream of making it to the Olympics, and the Smart Gilas team is taking it one step at a time.
Part of Pangilinan’s sports vision is sending more Filipino athletes to the Olympics, particularly in boxing, where the chance of winning the elusive gold lies heavily.
“MVP through the years has been quietly but actively supporting Philippine sports,” said POC spokesman Jose Romasanta.
“He also brings to sports his professional expertise. And being results-oriented, we can expect his involvement to provide a much-needed boost in our quest for our first Olympic gold.”
As president of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), his Smart Gilas team is currently competing in the William Jones Cup in Taipei and will vie in the FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship in Wuhan, China in September to shoot for a dream slot to the London Olympic Games next year.
Next stop for the national team is the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, the qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA World.
The mission became official after Pangilinan announced during the send-off for the Jones Cup-bound squad that the Smart Gilas program will be extended for two more years to allow the team to vie for one of three slots available for Asia to the World Championship.
And it’s not just Smart Gilas-Pilipinas.
Under SBP, national teams for the Southeast Asian Games – men and women – as well as for the FIBA-Asia Under-16 men and women tournaments, have been formed and are currently undergoing training, gaining momentum following the successful staging of the 22nd FIBA Asia Champions Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
MVP, it turned out, has just warmed up.
Pangilinan, as chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, also awarded 15-year-old Eumir Felix Marcial P300,000 for winning a gold medal in the AIBA World Junior Boxing Championship in Astona, Kazakhstan, the highest achievement so far in the event by a Filipino.
Under the aegis of the MVP Sports Foundation Inc., a group of companies chaired by Pangilinan has made it a mission to assist all the way the grassroots development and elite programs of eight national sports associations under the mantle of the Philippine Olympic Committee.
It was through the MVPSFI that NBA stars Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and several others descended on the Smart Araneta Coliseum three weeks ago to showcase their magic upon tens of thousands of mesmerized fans who packed the Big Dome like never before since the Crispa-Toyota era.
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