MANILA, 3 May — Malacanang has named a person with disability as commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission, completing the agency’s roster.
Michael Barredo, president of the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled who was left blind by a car accident in 1979, was named to the PSC board by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in an unprecedented move.
Barredo’s appointment to the PSC is largely viewed as the president’s way of giving those with disabilities a voice in the country’s sports programs.
Barredo, who takes over from Richie Garcia, joins Buhain, William "Butch" Ramirez, Cynthia Carrion and Leon Montemayor in the PSC board. Barredo said his handicap should not hamper him from performing his new duties.
"I don’t think my handicap will impair me. I’ve been blind for 22 years and I’ve been a board member of Philspada and other companies before, and I know how to make up for my limitations," said the La Salle alumnus.
An assistant and a talking computer helps him do office jobs, he added. As part of his new job, Barredo said he will "give my thoughts on policymaking, help the PSC in resource-generation, in getting funds from the private sector and international resources and institutionalize the programs of sports for the differently-abled that which will culminate in the staging of the ASEAN Para-Games in 2005." Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit welcomed Barredo’s appointment, saying his entry is in consonance with the Olympic movement.
"I welcome Mr. Barredo’s appointment. We should be thankful to President Arroyo for giving due importance to the need of giving attention to sports for the differently-abled. That is also the thrust of the International Olympic Committee. "With him at the PSC, we hope to hold the SEA Paralympic Games after the SEA Games in 2005."
Barredo was a recipient of the Manila Jaycees Presidential Award in 1978 and was named as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1993. At the time of his appointment, he was also serving as vice-chairman of the ASEAN Paralympic Council.
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Filipino boxer dies of brain injury
Another Filipino boxer, Maruel Zayas, died after suffering a brain injury. Zayas was knocked out by Alex Escaner in the ninth round of their scheduled 10-round super-bantamweight fight over the weekend in Tarlac.
A native of Butuan City and formerly based in Mabalacat, Pampanga, Zayas was pronounced dead at 12:05 p.m. at the Ramos General Hospital in Tarlac City. He was 21.
Dr. Nasser Cruz, chief of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) medical division, was immediately informed of the boxer’s death.
"It’s just unfortunate that this has happened. But this is part of the sport," said Cruz, noting that the cause of death was the swelling of Zayas’s brain.
Doctors at the Ramos General Hospital did not perform any operation, but subjected the boxer to two CT scan procedures. The first took place on Sunday, while the second was administered on Wednesday.
Zayas was brought to an ill-equipped hospital in Paniqui town some 20 minutes after being beaten by Escaner.
Dr. Renato Alampay of the GAB, who was also at ringside like Dr. Cruz, noted that Zayas slipped into a coma while in transit.
"He was complaining of a headache and drowsiness that’s why I immediately ordered him to be brought down the ring on a stretcher," said Alampay. Alampay said Zayas showed no signs of severe injury even before his fall. "He fought well and was even very aggressive," said Alampay.
"Three solid punches by Escaner connected and then Zayas fell face first," said Cruz. Zayas managed to get up but he went straight to his corner instead of answering referee Robert Macasil’s questions.
Seeing that Zayas was no longer fit to continue, Macasil stopped the fight. Zayas had lost his last three fights before facing Escaner. His last fight before the ill-fated Escaner match was held on Dec. 10, 2000 in Cebu, where he was stopped on cuts by Noel Sungahid.
Going into the fight, Escaner carried a 13-6-2 win-loss-draw record with seven knockouts. Zayas came into the ring holding a 9-6-1 mark with three knockouts.
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Southern Tagalog rules PRISAA
Southern Tagalog claimed two more gold medals to complete its supremacy in the PRISAA meet at the Abellana Sports Complex in Cebu City.
Southern Tagalog captured a total 14 gold medals, 12 of them from the men’s division, 10 silvers and five bronzes with the last two victories coming from Rodella Mejilano in women’s triple jump and Jerry Baldon in men’s javelin throw, to claim the overall championship.
The final day, though, was marred by the disqualification of two runners from NCR-South due to eligibility problems, resulting in the loss of four golds for the delegation.
Mercedita Manipol and Amelia Francisco, both members of the University of the East track team coached by Elma Muros Posadas, were disqualified for being members of the national training pool.
Section 8 of PRISAA bylaws prohibits national athletes and members of the national training pool from competing in the event.
Manipol won three individual events in smashing fashion and anchored NCR-South’s victory in the 4x800-meter relay. Francisco was also part of the winning team.
The disqualifications relegated NCR-South to fourth place overall with a 7-7-4 gold-silver-bronze tally behind NCR-North (14-8-11) and Ilocos Region (8-5-13).
Host Central Visayas placed fifth at 4-4-2, followed by Region IX 0-8-6. The three golds won by the host region came from Julius Nierras in the 100m dash, 200-m and long jump. The Cebuanos managed to win only one gold courtesy of Hydelisa Salinas in the women’s 3,000-m walk.
NCR-North topped the women’s division with 13-66, sharing the honors with Southern Tagalog, which ruled the men’s bracket with 12-4-3. A letter faxed by Philippine Sports Commission acting executive director Cesar Pradas to screening committee head Sege Gazmin confirmed that Manipol and Francisco are indeed members of the national training pool.
Bren Perez, NCR-South delegation head, was infuriated after learning about the disqualifications. "Why only now?’’ he asked.
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Torre leads GMs in Olympiad qualifier
Grandmasters Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio and Bong Villamayor will put their seedings at stake as they compete against 13 other chess players for an Olympiad seat in the 2002 National Chess finals over the weekend at the All-Asia Capital Center penthouse.
The round robin finals pits the three GMs against the 10 top finalists in the recently concluded semifinal round and three of the country’s brightest young woodpushers for the six-man Olympiad team to the World Chess Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia, this October.
Torre revealed the GMs were originally seeded in the team, but decided to play off in the grueling finals which fetches a whopping 150,000-peso pot to prove their worth in the Olympiad team.
