High hopes for PH in 12th Para Games

AHEAD of the Delegation Registration Meeting for the 12th ASEAN Para Games on May 28, Philippine Sports Commission’s Walter Torres, the Team Philippines Chef de Mission, expressed high hopes on the medal chances of national para-athletes set to compete in the Cambodia-hosted event in June.

A 259 Philippine Para team delegation, comprised of 174 strong and talented para-athletes, w ill participate in the 12th APG slated from June 3 to 9 in Phnom Penh.

CDM Torres is optimistic that the national para team can surpass the country’s showing at the 11th ASEAN Para Games 2022 in Surakarta, Indonesia with 28 gold, 30 silver, and 46 bronze medals for fifth place in the 11-nation tournament. Torres was also the CDM on that edition.

“We would like to do better than last time. Our team will definitely give their best because everybody wants to win,” said CDM Torres.

The Philippine contingent will compete in 13 sports: athletics (23), badminton (9), boccia (8), chess

(22), cerebral palsy football (10), goalball (12), judo (4), powerlifting (11), sitting volleyball (14) swimming (12), table tennis (21), wheelchair basketball (23), and esports (5) as demonstration sport.

“Pray for the success of our athletes in their pursuit of excellence. Excellence doesn’t just mean the number of medals won, it can also mean the development of one’s personality, character and leadership so that he or she becomes a positive influence on others,” CDM Torres said.

The PSC, in coordination with the Philippine Paralympic Committee, is scheduled to host the send-off party for the para-athletes on May 21 at the Multi-Purpose Arena in Pasig City.

“We welcome UNILAB to this prestigious event that will be followed by nations throughout the world,” said Pangilinan, a key member of the powerful FIBA Central Board and chairman and CEO of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

“This partnership will go a long way in ensuring the success of our country’s efforts to co-host this grand event, a national endeavor if ever there was one since this marks only the second time in our history that we will be staging a world basketball championship.”

The Philippines played host to the 1978 FIBA World Championship, where the former Yugoslavia emerged as champion.

Alfredo Panlilio, a vital member of the FIBA Asia Board and President and CEO of PLDT and Smart Communications, meanwhile, paid tribute to UNILAB’S sense patriotism and generosity in coming to the aid of the national team and of the overall effort to promote the country to the whole world as a shining example of leadership, organization and hospitality.

“We thank UNILAB for agreeing to be part of this once in a lifetime experience, and to share in this global activity, this journey which in a sense is truly a merger of world caliber sports and big business,” Panlilio said.

“We at SBP stand proudly with UNILAB in declaring our steadfast commitment to the Filipino people and to our national players in forging one of the most successful FIBA World Cups ever.”