Repeat: Please end injustice in the Palaro

If he were President Duterte, Dr. Aparicio Mequi would have tackled the staging of the next Palarong Pambansa in the last Sona.

Dr. Mequi, noted national sports development guru and former Chair of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), has been campaigning for drastic reforms in the Palaro.

It has been the theme of Dr. Mequi’s full-hearted campaign these past years to have the Palaro cater exclusively to Public School Athletes.

———— He finds it a great injustice to have well-funded athletes from rich private schools, who form the core of the National Capital Region (NCR), end up the perennial top performers in the Palarong Pambansa.

Dr. Mequi has again told Chair Butch Ramirez about the mess:

“Chairman, the schools divisions are starting to hold their lower meets to select the athletes for the Palarong Pambansa. It’s an opportune time to inform Usec. Tonisito Umali of the urgent need to restore the Palaro to its genesis: The Public School Athletes.”

———— Why? “This is the right time to do this in consonance with the Duterte government’s policy of serving the least advantaged.” What’s the main problem? “The public school athletes have long been deprived of their right to participate in sports on even grounds, with their expertly coached and richly funded counterparts from powerhouse private school outfits predictably dominating the events.”

Dr. Mequi decried the fact that participants from rich private schools continued to gain greatly from the Palaro, the school games funded by public funds.

“Time to correct this injustice in Philippine children and youth sports,” Dr. Mequi cried.