Novel RP ‘palabas’ readied for opening rites

BUSAN — Athletes were given the priority after the Philippines was allowed only 141 participants for today’s opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Busan as organizers opted for a short, compact two-hour kickoff program at the Main Stadium.

The decision announced during the first Chefs de Mission meeting Friday sent Filipino officials scrambling to come up with a list of only 129 athletes, who will join 12 officials led by delegation head Tom Carrasco in the traditional marchpast ushering in the 16-day sports festival featuring a record 44 nations.

With the pruned-down list, officials were forced to revise a brief show designed to draw attention to the RP squad when it passes the presidential box. Under the original plan, the Filipinos will be displaying the rays of the sun by opening parasols each participant will be carrying at a signal.

The national tri-color will be shown this time and the Filipinos will have the whole morning today to work on this routine under noted couturier Rajo Laurel, who conceived the plan and flew in with the delegation Thursday.

It was also Laurel who designed and created the parade uniform of the RP contingent. The male athletes will be in dark blue suits and pants while the Filipinas will be in dark skirts and red blouses. They will also wear Visayan-motif ties and scarves.

Billiards ace Francisco (Django) Bustamante will carry the RP flag to underscore his status as one of few athletes with solid chances of winning a gold in the 17-day competition ending on Oct. 14.

The Philippines will be marching in the expected chilly Busan evening second to last under the Korean alphabet.

Following the Filipinos will be the Hong Kong contingent with the athletes from host South Korea and their counterparts from the North bringing up the rear of the marchpast.

The South and North Korean athletes will march together behind the blue-and-white Korean peninsula flag in a symbolic gesture of international harmony and friendship.

Carrasco said organizers cut down the number of participants in the kickoff rites because they put up a big stage in the middle of the field and thus ate up a big space normally occupied by athletes.

The decision to limit participants for the opening ceremony actually came as a relief for the national cagers, who really wanted to skip the event and scout instead the North Koreans, who will be playing against the United Arab Emirates team early tonight.

The RP dribblers take on the Nokors Monday.

The fencers were automatically out of it since they will be deep in competition today.

Other athletes scheduled to see action Monday were also taken off the list of participants in the opening ceremony.

Previous RP delegations were used to just waving tiny flags or waving to the crowd during opening ceremonies in international competitions until Laurel came up with his novel idea this time.

The opening ceremony starts with a 10-minute cultural event. The official ceremony is expected to last for 70 minutes followed by a 40-minute post-ceremony show.

Nepal comes out first in the parade of nations, followed by East Timor, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Bhutan, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Singapore, UA Emirates, Afghanistan, Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Iran, India, Indonesia, Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Cambodia, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Chinese Taipei, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Palestine.