MVP

While politicians have started furiously jockeying for best position in photo ops, basketball officials have been trying to breach the wounds that divided the national basketball industry. For two years, there was bad blood between the basketball associations, resulting in their suspension by the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA), the world governing body of basketball.

As if by happenstance, the Philippine officials met in Bangkok a week ago, paving the way for the happy marriage between the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) which was consummated during a basketball unity congress held in Manila on Feb. 5.

Last Friday, Feb. 15, the mood was jubilant when the Philippine Olympic Committee welcomed the BAP-SBP as a regular member and as the newest national sports association for basketball in the country. The POC’s recognition of the national sports association is all that is needed by FIBA to lift the suspension it meted out the Philippines in 2005.

The FIBA suspension did not allow the Philippines to compete in the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian games and the 2006 Doha Asian games.

But with the lifting of the suspension the Philippines will enter again international basketball tournaments under BAP-SBP, headed by Rep. Luis Villafuerte and Manny Pangilinan, chair and president, respectively. These will include joining the Olympic qualifier FIBA-Asia championships and regional meets like the Asian games and the SEABA.

Grinning from ear to ear are the people who made possible the unification of Philippine basketball — Pangilinan, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. head; lawyer Boni Alentajan, and Go Teng Kok, the BAP president who gave Alentajan and Christian Tan full authority to reach an agreement with SBP. Alentajan said the drawn-out meeting between BAP and SBP in Bangkok was emotionally charged and tiring, but ultimately, it was rewarding, breaking barriers, and correcting miscommunications and mixed signals.

Now stakeholders in the sport are talking about how to bring back the glorious days of Philippine basketball. One big step will be seeing through Pangilinan’s priority of sending Philippine teams in international tournaments.

Manny stressed that the teams must be well-funded, well-trained and well-motivated — and all three are achievable, with the full support of the Filipino people, companies and the government.

Ricky Vargas, incumbent chair of PBA and part of the SBP group that met with Alentajan and Tan, said the long-term thrust of the BAP-SBP is grassroots development of the sport, and that what Manny Pangilinan has in mind is to reach out to the provinces to look for young talents.

BAP officials found Pangilinan "disarming and affable," and the PLDT chief will likely prove that true even as he carries on the difficult tasks of finding funds for BAP-SBP’s development programs and underwriting the campaigns of Philippine teams abroad. But Manny is not Most Valuable Player for nothing. He will deliver.

* * *

A global initiative dubbed Campaign for Real Beauty was set out by Dove to redefine the stereotypes of beauty. The project aimed to broaden the standards of beauty so that more women will be inspired to take care of themselves.

Research has shown that many young girls have low self-esteem on account of misperceptions about their looks, thereby hindering them from maximizing their talent and potential in later life.

About 95 percent of Filipinas don’t feel beautiful and they want to change their looks. A study of Dove across nine countries in Asia including the Philippines, show that women first become aware of the need to be physically attractive between 6 and 17 years of age. In the Philippines, the average age is 14. How young girls are satisfied with their looks and body image has a negative or positive impact on their long-term self-esteem.

Malyn Cristobal, a practicing family therapist, said that about 90 percent of Filipinas surveyed tend to avoid social and academic activities whenever they feel bad about their looks. This includes skipping school, avoiding extra-curricular activities, and missing social occasions that are crucial to their development.

In response to this, Dove has created the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, a pioneering advocacy that allows women to care for the self-esteem of young girls as they care for themselves with Dove.

Dondi Gomez, category director for skin and deodorants of Unilever Philippines, says that Bodytalk, a building body confidence workshop, was created to help young girls build a positive self-image by understanding and dealing with perceptions and feelings. "Through this, we hope to educate young girls on a wider definition of beauty and inspire them to be confident to reach their full potential in life."

Under the Dove Self-Esteem program, a portion of proceeds from Dove Sales are used to run self-image workshops for girls in partnership with the Girl Scouts of the Philippines.

My e-mail: [email protected]