Para Games to encourage support for the disabled

In line with the global celebration of the International Day of Disabled Persons last Dec. 3, the City of Manila will play host to the staging of the third ASEAN Para Games from Dec. 14-21 at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1982, this year’s occasion aims to promote understanding of disability issues and encourage support for the upliftment of the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities.

Through the third ASEAN Para Games, organizers not only hope to allow the region’s disabled sector to enjoy life and human rights fully and become productive citizens but also promote solidarity in the region.

The Philippines is hosting the Games, presented by the PCSO, PSC, and DPWH and backed by PLDT-Smart, Systems Technology, Inc., Pag-ibig, SM Shoemart, Philpost, NBN-4, Manila Bulletin, Philspada, and the City Government of Manila under Mayor Lito Atienza, for the first time under the auspices of the Philippine ASEAN Para Games Organizing Committee (PAPGOC) chaired by former Philippine Sports Commissioner Michael Barredo.

Barredo, who is the Board of Governors chairman of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation and president of the 113-nation member International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), expressed the importance for nations to take cognizance of the needs of their disabled in so far as their mental, physical and spiritual strength is concerned.

"I may have lost my eyesight, but I gained a vision. And that vision is to see the disabled being able to participate in the mainstream of society, particularly in sports," said Barredo, a former athlete who lost his eyesight more than 20 years ago.

Over 1,000 of the finest differently-abled athletes from all over Southeast Asia are expected to showcase their athletic prowess in the Games also supported by American President Line, Pfizer Inc., Red Ribbon, Radioworks, Sports Radio, IBM Computers, Mettaphione, GSIS, and various national government agencies.

Among the sports included in the calendar are athletics, swimming, powerlifting, badminton, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, goalball, chess, wheelchair tennis, and judo, while demonstration sports include sailing, boccia, tenpin bowling, and fencing.

The ASEAN Para Games were started in 2000 during the 10th Paralympiad Malaysian Games held in Kuala Lumpur wherein the 10 Southeast Asian countries unanimously decided to establish a regional federation, which organized the biennial Games to promote the spirit of regional solidarity.