TAO turns 22

The rains drenched more than half of the field of the 1st Thailand Friendly Golf Tournament at Cebu Country Club yesterday.

My group, which also had Brucedy Chan and Clark Gothong, was headed to the green of the 17th when the rain fell.

On the final hole we were drenched and had a good reason for our scores hehehe…

The tournament was organized by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau.

I had the chance to play golf in Thailand many years ago together with a big group of Cebuanos. The country takes pride in having more than 200 golf courses and being a major tourist destination, said Puripan Bunnag. Ester Chin, who is based in Singapore, was also there.

Maybe Brucedy, Clark and I will soon plan a golfing trip to Thailand. I realized that even if we were spraying balls all over the golf course, we were still having fun.

I guess it was the essence of the tournament – Thailand is a fun destination for golfers.

“Believe in Thailand.”

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My organization, the UP TAO Brotherhood and Sisterhood, turned 22 years old yesterday.

This group was first organized in 1989 and I was among the first few recruits when it was solely a fraternity that did not only encourage helping each other in academics, but also to get its members to try sports.

Although I was quite athletic back then, playing football and volleyball for the school team and judo for the Cebu team, the brothers also urged me to join our basketball team in one of the tournaments of the school.

My brothers, who then formed the core of our basketball team, have now gone separate ways, but we know that the bond we formed as members of the organization stays.

On the same year I played for the team, coming in for only a few minutes per game, we won the championship behind the team’s core composed of Christopher Tio, Israelito ‘Bobet’ Torreon, Andrew Cañete, Tirso ‘Jinggoy’ Roa, and our star point guard Emerson Subong.

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Our organization also encouraged its members to take up judo as a course in Physical Education.

It was because two of us were assistant instructors and eventually we helped push the sport by taking over the holding of the Roa Cup and staging the all-white belt TAO Cup.

With the support of our brothers and sisters from the University of San Carlos, Velez College, University of San Jose-Recoletos, and University of the Visayas, we were able to do our little share to push judo in Cebu.

With TAO we proved that no matter how small a group is, you can make a difference in sports. We hope that this will also encourage others to do the same.

Mabuhi ang TAO Brotherhood and Sisterhood!

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MILESTONES: Belated happy birthday greetings go to Cavalier Augustus Cesar ‘ACE’ Esmeralda, Ella Mae Aliganga, Jay Young, Michael Solon, Dr. Kevin Cimafranca, and Atty. Ram Villagonzalo, who turned a year older last Monday.

The same goes to my classmates Ermin Paul Cabrera, Cristina Pacis-Ouano, and Alma Gayondato, who also celebrated last Monday.

Belated greetings also to those who turned a year older yesterday like Bruce Toliao, Michell Lampinez-Oroc, Basty Jakosalem, and my niece Anya Lebumfacil Manigsaca.

Today’s greetings go to Rowena Duarte, Marc Amante, and Michael Parcon.

More power to all of you! - THE FREEMAN