Shooters protest Asian Games exclusion

A group of accomplished shotgun shooters from the Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) trooped to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) head office Monday to seek an audience with members of the PSC board, asking why none of the seven shooters they recommended have not been included in the roster of national athletes to the Asian Games in November. They had previously written the Philippine Olympic Committee and the PSC asking why they have been left out.

“We’ve surpassed all the criteria set by the Philippine Olympic Committee for our shooters to qualify for the Asian Games,” explains Jimmy Recio, an Olympian and former shooter who accompanied the group to the PSC offices Monday. “But for reasons that we don’t know, our team has not been included in the lineup for the Asian Games.”

The group, mostly trap shooters, included multiple Steel Challenge champion Jet Dionisio (who shifted to shotgun years ago because it is an Olympic event), Hagen Topacio and Eric Ang. Trap shooting is one of three shotgun events using clay pigeons as targets. This year alone, the trio has broken the team gold medal score of the last Asian Games while participating at the World Cup in Beijing, then followed this up by eclipsing the team silver medal score of the Asian Games at the World Shooting Championships in Munich. In Beijing, the trio scored 331 (the high score in Doha was 327). In Munich, they tallied 324 (the team silver score was 322). For each of those two competitions, the PSC supposedly spent approximately P1 million.

“Where is the logic in that? asks Recio, a shooter for 25 years and until recently a director of the Philippine National Oil Company. “If the government is trying to be more efficient in spending its money, then why aren’t the shooters going to the Asian Games after being sent to qualifying events?”

Unfortunately, PSC chair Richie Garcia was at Congress Monday, so the group met with Com. Chito Loyzaga. On the way, however, they were accosted by another member of the board, who allegedly accused them of being noisy, “disrespectful” and “unpatriotic” during the flag-raising ceremony that morning. Witnesses claim the commissioner even yelled at the group in the PSC building lobby and told them to come back after three weeks, even though they were there to see chairman Garcia.

“We were not there to ask for money, but to plead our case,” Recio continued. “The deadline was September. We spend our own money going to several competitions. Eric (Ang) just came back from Thailand, and went there on his own account. In all my years of being with shooting, I have proudly carried the Philippine colors. And this newcomer accuses me of being unpatriotic? I can’t tell you how much I have spent out of my own pocket over the years. We do it for love of the sport.”

In a letter to POC president Jose Cojuangco, Jr., James Chua, chairman of the PNSA’s moving target group, claims “There have been attempts to discredit the performance and qualification of the shotgun shooters perhaps with the intention of substituting their places for other shooters. It now appears that the shotgun shooters have been prejudiced by the discrediting effort because not a single one from the seven shotgun shooters recommended has been approved by the Asian Games.”

The letter goes on to point out that the shotgun group has won more medals in international competition than the rifle and pistol groups combined. Since there was no shotgun event at the last Southeast Asian Games (where a gold medal is considered a criterion for making it to the Asian Games, the next qualifying criterion would be the bronze standard of the Asian Games. The letter also reveals that the PNSA has gathered information that shooters from other events who are incidentally political rivals of PNSA president Arturo Macapagal are being considered for the Asian Games.

“We appeal to you to protect our athletes,” Chua says in ending the letter. “Our shooters have worked hard in order to meet the qualifying scores. Since they have done so, it is only fair that they be given the privilege of carrying the country’s flag in competition in the Asian Games. Please do not allow them to be demoralized. Let us instead deliver the message to them that their efforts are appreciated and properly recognized.”

So far, the appeals of the shotgun shooters have been met with silence from both the POC and the PSC. The shooters are prepared to go, and seem qualified. We hope that their exclusion is not a case of political reprisal. We have seen this happen time and again for a quarter of a century. There should be another explanation.

Or else nothing has changed.