Summit gives focus on Paralympic movement
STAKEHOLDERS overseeing the affairs and state of athletes who are differently abled in the country gather this week to discuss measures and goals to improve the handling and promotion of para-sports in the Philippines.
Happening on June 9 at the Microtel, Technohub in Quezon City, and with the theme “Transcending Barriers Through Sports,” the one-day gathering of key players in local para-sports, including sports officials, athletes, coaches and trainers, sports doctors, marketing experts and policy makers, will look into the state of Paralympic Sports in the Philippines, identifying local and international goals to enable Filipino para-athletes to achieve sporting excellence not only here but also abroad.
Organized and spearheaded by the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) and the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (PHILSPADA), the first Philippine Para Sports Summit also aims to find ways to develop para-sports as a tool for changing the lives of Filipinos with disabilities while contributing to the development of an inclusive society.
Summit organizers said they are expecting 100 participants to attend the gathering from national sports associations, nongovern- ment organizations, private corporations and the government sector, among other groups.
They also said that the timing of the summit is very opportune in light of the significant progress that local para-athletes are making.
Last year, in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Filipino para-table tennis player Josephine Medina gave the country its second Paralympics bronze medal. It came 16 years after powerlifter, Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta, got the firstever bronze medal in the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000.
Another Filipino para-athlete making a name for himself is Ernie Gawilan, a legless swimming sensation discovered from Davao City, who is a consistent gold medalist in the ASEAN Para Games ever since becoming a member of the national team.
Ms. Medina and Mr. Gawilan are just two of the growing number of Filipino para- athletes who are making waves in local, regional and international competitions and whose development is what the about- to- happen summit hopes to rally behind, particularly the establishment for the PPC and PHILSPADA of a comprehensive Mid-Term National Para Sports Development Program, which is geared to open up more opportunities for paraathletes from grassroots to the elite level of competitions. Among the competitions the summit eyes to prepare Filipino para- athletes for are the 9th ASEAN Para Games in Malaysia this September, the Asian Para Games in Indonesia in 2018, the 10th ASEAN Para Games in Manila, and the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020.
Key speakers in the summit are: Chairman William I. Ramirez of the Philippine Sports Commission; Mr. Peping Cojuangco, President of the Philippine Olympic Committee; Michael Barredo, President of PPC-PHILSPADA; noted sports medicine expert Dr. Raul Canlas; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation expert, Dr. Raul Cembrano; SecretaryGeneral and former Olympic swimmer Gerardo “Ral” Rosario; para- coaches Joel Deriada of Athletics and Vernon Perea of Wheelchair Basketball; as well as para- athletes Gawilan, Medina and Dumapong-Ancheta.
An interesting sidelight of the event will be a Wheelchair Dance Sport exhibition while the high point of the summit will be the launch of the “Alay Para Atleta” program, a nationwide campaign that will enable the general public to participate in the Paralympic Movement via a P50 annual contribution through mobile phone access.