Patafa in Cebu
As for Juico, well, perhaps a visit here can get him to see what the local running community has done also, thanks to the efforts of Dueñas, Tabal and their supporters and he can have it replicated.
Philip Ella Juico became some sort of a pariah in the local running community during that unforgettable saga involving Mary Joy Tabal’s chase for an Olympic spot in 2016. He earned the ire of those who supported Joy when he painted an ugly picture of the Cebuana marathoner.
Rep. Gwen Garcia even threatened to hold a House inquiry on the matter but that was all shelved when Joy made the national team, thanks to the backing of the Philippine Sports Commission and the various other supporters and politicians who issued statements for her reinstatement.
Ever since then, I’ve always wondered whether Juico, the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (Patafa) president, would be welcomed in Cebu or if Patafa would ever have a presence here. It turns out that Patafa has always had a Cebuano in the board—Felix Tiukinhoy—and after decades in the NSA, the Cesafi commissioner who wears many hats could finally get Patafa to do something for the local track and field community, not just running.
Tiukinhoy, who is also the Cebu Weightlifting Association president, wants to work with the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) and the Cebu Province Sports Commission (CPSC) to improve track and field in Cebu by bringing in coaches from the national team and by holding regular meets.
You could say, of course, that perhaps it’s the national team coaches that would get “improved” with a visit to Cebu. That may be true for running since we have John Philip Dueñas, but for other track events like throwing, jumping and sprinting, perhaps an exchange of ideas would be beneficial to Cebu?
“Let’s think of Cebu only, let’s not think of Manila or whatever are there problems there,” Tiukinhoy told me during a wide-ranging talk a few days ago. “I’ll even invite Philip Juico here so we can talk about this.”
I think this is timely because of Tiukinhoy’s good working relationship with both the CCSC and CPSC.
Both sports commissions have active grassroots programs and since the athletes of both are usually the ones who compete with each other in the regional meet, a program like this will not only benefit the whole of Cebu but Region 7 as well.
As for Juico, well, perhaps a visit here can get him to see what the local running community has done also, thanks to the efforts of Dueñas, Tabal and their supporters and he can have it replicated.
Aside from that, he might also see that this practice of forcing top athletes to relocate to Manila once they become members of the national team may not be a wise one.