Patafa’s unresolved sins of the past

I’m not sure whether Rep. Gwen Garcia will push through with her plan for a hearing on the Patafa vs. Mary Joy Tabal issue now that the Cebuana Olympian has been reinstated in the national team, but I hope there will be some sort of investigation on Patafa, whether it’s by the House or the Philippine Sports Commission.

You see, had Patafa been transparent on a similar issue close to 20 years ago, the Mary Joy Tabal issue would have been avoided.

Back in 1997, Chantal Balani wowed the world of tracks by ruling the sprints while donning the Cebu International School colors. Patafa got wind of her and asked her to relocate to Manila. To make the long story short, she didn’t relocate but at one point, represented Hong Kong in an international meet and defeated the best the Philippines had to offer.

Balani’s situation is the same as of that of Tabal. An athlete outside the Patafa umbrella excels well enough to beat the very best of Patafa and is pressured to join Patafa. Because they are in the Philippines, they don’t get the same luxury as Fil-Am athletes who get to choose where and with whom to train.

Two cases, almost 20 years apart, both involving Cebu’s best. Had Patafa learned to be flexible 20 years ago, we wouldn’t be facing this issue.

And sports officials then are acting the way they are acting right now in the Joy Tabal issue, lashing at the critics who dare speak out against them. Those who spoke out against Patafa in defense of Joy were labeled as being in the pocket of Joy’s handlers. One of those who spoke out against Patafa in the Balani case—Graeme Mackinnon—was declared persona non grata by the POC. See any similarities? One curious thing, though, is that Patafa then was headed by Go Teng Kok, now the chairman emiritus of the association. His stance has changed.

In the Tabal issue, GTK told a Manila paper, “Our athletes have been sacrificing a lot. If we cannot give them the proper financial support in training, we must exercise understanding of their plight. Let us not treat them as robots programmed to simply follow rules, we, as sports leaders, must treat them as our children. Sacrifice must begin with us, sports leaders.”

The former president said he had a change of heart when an athlete told him, “Sir, with due, respect, what really have you and the association done for me? Yes, you helped in my training, but what about me and my family?”

I just hope it won’t take the present Patafa officials 20 years to be finally flexible.