117 Pinoys compete in Asean Paragames

A contingent of 117 para-athletes, accompanied by 25 coaches and 14 officials, will compete in the ninth Asean Para Games 2017 on Sept. 17-23 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Phl team, supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and private donors, will compete in 12 sports – athletics, archery, badminton, boccia, chess, cycling, goalball, powerlifting, swimming, table tennis, tenpin bowling and wheelchair basketball.

“Our participation is significant as it will show the progress we have made in the Paralympic movement and para-sports in our country,” said Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo.

“Our team has been training hard and we have streamlined operations so that we can better support our athletes, so we expect to perform well. Also, we are hosting the 10th ASEAN Para Games in 2019. We will participate and note what Malaysia does well and translate these to our hosting efforts,” he added.

Leading the team is 2016 Rio Paralympics table tennis bronze medalist Josephine Medina, who despite being afflicted with polio, learned and competed against able bodied athletes to hone her craft.

“I will do my best and hope to prevail in the regional competition,” Medina said.

Barredo said Philippine para-sports is making huge strides after the holding of the Para Sports Summit with a theme – “Breaking barriers through sports” last June 9.

“The summit re-oriented all parasports stakeholders so that we can unify our efforts. At that summit, we also launched the Alay Para Sa Atleta, a text-based fund-raising campaign that will allow us to use texting and gaming to generate donations for the Paralympic movement,” Barredo said.