Behind every successful athlete is a loving mom
MANILA, Philippines - Procter and Gamble and the International Olympic Committee recently announced their partnership at the “Thank you, Mom, for seeing the hero in me” event held at The Blue Leaf.
Procter and Gamble is a worldwide partner of the International Olympic Committee. This year, the company intends to go beyond supporting the athletes to honoring the loving mothers behind their success.
“P&G as a company is in the business of touching and improving people’s lives. Those who are in the forefront with us towards this goal are the mothers,” said Chad Sotelo, P&G country marketing manager.
“We take this as an opportunity to reward our nurturers who saw the heroes in us and reared us to be the champions that we are in our respective fields. P&G is a proud sponsor of moms. We are now and we will continue to be,” he added.
In his solidarity message, Peping Cojuangco Jr., president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, commends this thrust in recognizing not only the athletes but also the mothers, their towers of strength. He further stressed how crucial full support is to the Philippines’ representatives in their physical, mental, and emotional preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Mark Anthony Barriga, the country’s first qualified athlete competing in light flyweight boxing, was also introduced in the launch. The 18-year-old delegate is among the youngest against more experienced boxers in this division. But he chooses to look at his age and youth as an advantage and is positive that he will deliver.
Mark also wishes to make the Philippines proud given that the country’s highest chance of bringing home the gold has always been in the boxing category. He is currently trained by retired boxer Roel Velasco who won the bronze medal in the light flyweight division at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and is also the elder brother of Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco Jr. who won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta in the same weight division.
Melita Barriga, or “Momsky” as Mark calls her, was flown from her hometown in Davao to be with Mark for this event. She was welcomed on stage by P&G’s mombassador, renowned television host and actress Kris Aquino.
Momsky shared with everyone how she was treated to a pamper day before joining them. Just when she thought that was it, Kris revealed more surprises for her.
The P&G team went to the Barriga’s house in Davao, took care of all of Momsky’s chores to make sure that her family was doing fine while she was in Manila, improved their home, and left them with a year’s supply of P&G products.
Finally, Kris announced that P&G would sponsor Momsky’s flight to London to watch Mark compete in the Olympic Games. Momsky was very happy especially that she rarely gets to see Mark fights because of their distance. Kris, who has at every chance been vocal about her gratefulness and love to her own mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, was equally delighted to see how surprised Momsky was.
Kris and Momsky also acknowledged that every mother’s plight is unique and deserves the highest recognition so together, they led the awarding of the P&G Proud Sponsor of Moms medals to all the mothers present in the evening.
“P&G would like to commend Mark for making it to the qualifiers. That alone is a victory to be celebrated. We would like to congratulate Momsky for raising an Olympic hopeful and all the mothers for raising everyday heroes. P&G is committed to walk hand in hand with you in providing the best for you and your families,” concluded Sotelo.
