Azkal's win: We must have a football stadium!

As we wrote last Wednesday, there is a massive Pro-Life Protest Rally that would be held at the Fuente Osmeña this afternoon which we hope that a great majority of our fellow Catholic brethren would participate against the proposal pending in Congress called the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill. It is unfortunate that too many of our friends believe in that old yarn peddled by many economists that our population growth is the obstacle to our economic growth and development. These folks embrace that old “Malthusian” view that the more people we have, the more poor people there will be.

 My best proof are small island nations like Saipan, Guam or New Guinea and Middle Eastern nations like the United Arab Emirates, where the population of Filipinos working there has reached closed to 30% of their population. Without the Filipinos working in places like Abu Dhabi or Dubai, these places wouldn’t have developed. The problem really stems from the fact that our politicians have wasted our taxpayer’s money pocketing them as if it were their own “Piggy Bank”. Soon, certain high-ranking officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have followed their lead and that’s what we have just seen happening in this country today.

But politicians are quick to pin the blame on the Catholic Church’s intransigent stand on the use of contraceptives. What we need are programs that promote economic development and above all, to upgrade our educational system to attune it to today’s needs, especially in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) or IT Industry where Filipinos can work with salaries better than what our local business enterprise or government offices can give, yet they are not working abroad, but right here at home. So please join this rally at the Fuente Osmeña and let your voice be heard!

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The stunning victory of the Philippine men’s football team dubbed the Azkals in Bacolod City against the Mongolian Team proves to you that Filipinos can win in that famous game called Football. I have watched most of the games of the Azkals in the past few months and no doubt they have put up a very good team worthy of representing the Philippines hopefully in the future world cup events. Right now, they are only focused on the Asian Football, but who knows how far they can go.

Mind you, I did not only watch the game between the Azkals and the Mongolians, I was also watching the people in the bleachers. Indeed, it is the first time I saw Filipinos sporting proudly the Philippine Flag and many of them had their faces painted in our glorious flag. This should give us an idea that the time is ripe for our Filipino youth to take football as a sport because this is the only sport I know that carries national pride. Sure, we’re proud of Rep. Manny “Pacman’s” exploits in boxing, but football is a totally different ballgame, which we must embrace.

In the 50s, the Philippines had a credible football (they call it soccer) team for the Olympic Games. We even had a great baseball team. But just like everything else happening in this country, we lost it when sports in this country became too politicized. I should know, I quit Archery in the 70s because I personally encountered the problems in our sporting industry.

It became worse when the politicians took over, giving basketball courts to many barangays or sitios, where their follow-up support was very cheap, only a couple of basketball balls and uniforms. In Bacolod City, they have a credible football field, which may not be at par with the expensive football stadiums in Brazil or in Spain, but at least they have a workable soccer playing field worthy of being shown on Satellite TV.

I dare say that it is time for us in Cebu to make our own playable football field and get Filipinos to embrace soccer; after all, height is not a requirement in football, unlike our first love, basketball where height is indispensable. I predict that football will become a national sport and I exhort our Congressmen in Cebu to build the first real football stadium in Cebu so we can become the country’s soccer capital. The question to ask is, can we do it?

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It seems that despite the massive advocacy campaign we’ve been doing against Human Trafficking, there are still a few Caucasians aided by their Filipina friends or girlfriends in Cebu who prey on little children. The murder of 6-year-old Ellah Joy Pique who was found naked and dead in Barangay Sayaw, Barili may have been done by a pedophile.

The girl’s body was thrown over a cliff along the road, believing that she won’t be found. The poor girl studied at the Calajo-an Elementary school was reported to have been picked up by a black SUV with a Caucasian and Filipina women, who most probably knew her or her parents because she got into the car without hesitation. The PNP should find this murderer!