No smoking please

There was a very ugly sight inside the Cebu City Sports Center last Monday - two foreign-looking women smoking at the area near the pool.

Why was it an ugly sight? That is because smoking is not allowed inside the facility and so is taking alcoholic beverages and of course illegal drugs.

I could not help but call the attention of the two women about their misdeed, which in fairness to them, they also immediately abided.

The no smoking policy was strictly implemented at the sports center when it was first opened in 1994 and should continue to be strictly imposed.

I remember the time when they checked the bags of all those who went inside the facility and those with cigarettes and lighters aside from other banned substances and material were asked to leave them behind to be picked up when they go out.

Maybe that would be hard to do now with the volume of people going to the sports facility everyday to train, so I ask all those who can't help but puff to just leave them behind when they go to the sports center.

You may have the right to smoke, but others also have the right not to inhale your smoke.

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I had this experience inside the Talisay City Sports Complex last weekend during the Gov. Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball (GUV) Cup where many people smoked.

I was happy to learn that there is a proposal by the Talisay City Council to ban smoking in public places, but was so disappointed to read about PB Member Joven Mondigo opposing the measure on the ground that it would affect investment.

I sure hope I read it wrong or the report was inaccurate, because it is a shame for an honorable provincial official to stake such claim and air his concern about smokers being harassed because of the imposition of the law. How about the rights of the non-smokers, sir?

I support the call to ban smoking in places where sports is played since this is contrary to the promotion of good health, which is the reason why we engage in sports.

If some public officials believe this will affect the economy because it drives away investors, then I guess millions of Pinoys are really right about leaving our country.

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Are we going to discover the next Cebuana volleyball legend in the 1st GUV Cup? I definitely hope so.

I may have written so many times about this, but volleyball is one sport where Cebu has made a major contribution to the national team.

Some of Cebu's legends were presented last week during the opening of the GUV Cup at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.

There were Perla Dadula-Janea, Thelma Barina-Rojas, Maria Lourdes Jao-Ramirez, Grace Antigua, and Jojie Maranga. Absent that day was Maria Chona Jao-San Juan, who is now out of the country.

Other Cebuano volleyball legends, who have also been enshrined into the Cebu Sports Hall of Fame, are Eugene de la Cerna, coach of the University of San Carlos, and Thelma Datig, coach of Southwestern University.

The GUV Cup can be a good breeding ground for the future stars of Philippine volleyball and the support of the participants will help make this a reality.