FG revives godfather scheme

Godfather Part II is coming soon.

This was the assurance made by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo yesterday regarding the "godfather program" that played a key role in the country’s recent victory in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games.

The First Gentleman, an avid sportsman, did a first for Philippine sports last January when he led a pledging session among the members of the private sector in Malacañang.

With his close friends and representatives of the country’s biggest corporations present, the pledging session was able to raise P160 million that were spent for the training of the RP athletes.

Close to 800 athletes benefited from the "godfather program" as they were sent to foreign countries like China, Japan, Korea, France, Hungary, Mongolia, Indonesia and the US for training.

And the result was overwhelming as the Filipino athletes won a total of 113 gold, 86 silver and 92 bronze medals to emerge overall champion, beating Thailand and Vietnam.

The First Gentleman, therefore, is planning to apply the same winning formula as the country gears up for the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar, 2007 SEA Games in Thailand and 2008 Olympics in China.

At the packed SCOOP sa Kamayan Forum, the First Gentleman expressed confidence that the godfathers will continue to support the different national sports associations.

"With what happened, I think it would be easy for me to go back to the godfathers. It’s not that hard to talk to them," he said.

"And I will talk to them as soon as possible. While everybody is happy. We will take this opportunity to talk to them. Habang masaya sila," added the First Gentleman.

San Miguel Corp. topped the list of the godfathers by throwing in an unprecedented P100 million that were spent in 12 chosen sports. They reaped all the dividends as their chosen sports led by wushu won 55 gold medals or almost half of the total RP production.

The First Gentleman said there could be no need for another pledging session if the former godfathers decided to continue helping and supporting their respective sports.

"If they agree on that, then there’ll be no more pledging session. If the others back out, there are others who are willing to come in and help, like chairman Efraim Genuino of Pagcor," he said.

Arroyo said it won’t be hard to seek continuous support for the RP athletes after their remarkable performance in the SEA Games where the country has never won the overall title before.

"For me that’s the most wonderful feeling. For those of us who were up there in the stands, when they were losing, we felt like we were losing. And when they were winning, we felt the joy of winning.

"And I think the whole nation experienced that. All the Filipinos are very proud. There was an upsurge of national unity because of our win," he said.