Para athletes seek to engage help of private and public sectors
RECOGNIZING the big role that the private and public sectors can play as partners in fostering the development of the conditions for the differently abled athletes in the country, this sector of the sporting community is seeking to engage their help.
In the formal launch of the “Alay PARA Atleta” program yesterday at Dad’s Kamayan EDSA, paralympic movement stakeholders gathered to push for the elevated involvement of the private and public sectors, be they individuals or corporations, to share their resources to help differently abled athletes in their training and competition.
Done in partnership with Rising Tide Mobile Entertainment, Inc., a mobile content and service company, Alay PARA Atleta is a mobile donation activation program designed to complement the efforts of the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) and the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (PHILSPADA), which for the last 20 years have been looking after the welfare of the differently abled athletes in the country.
“We hope that through this program we can gather the needed resources to further the paralympic movement in the country. We really need the help of everybody for the movement to be a success,” said Michael I. Barredo, PPCPHILSPADA president, during his message in yesterday’s launch.
Alay PARA Atleta is a nationwide campaign and enables anybody who wants to help to participate in the paralympic movement via a P10 to P500 contribution through mobile phone access.
To donate, mobile phone users under the Smart and Globe network can do so by typing “ALAYPARA (amount)” and send it to 3456.
Upon donation, the donor should receive an acknowledgment reply after to confirm that their donation has been received.
Along with the mobile donation activation program, Instagram and Facebook accounts for Alay PARA Atleta were also launched.
Seeing how the program would go a long way as far as their training and during tournaments, manytime gold medalist, including in the Olympics, Adeline DumapongAncheta expressed her happiness with the latest development in the paralympic movement.
“I’ve been a para athlete for a long time now and this truly brings me much happiness. I’ve seen the movement with nothing to now. And this is another step,” said a teary-eyed Dumapong-Ancheta at the launch.
And it is not only para athletes that are rallying behind the program as also abled athletes are supporting it.
“I fully support this program. I think this is a step in the right direction for the continued development of our para athletes. We are all athletes here and we should support each other,” said former national basketball player and Philippine Basketball Association legend Alvin Patrimonio, who graced the launch and lent his support.
Also present at the launch were University Athletic Association of the Philippines commissioner Rebo Saguisag and basketball stars Jan Jaboneta and Hubert Cani.
“This is a milestone for the paralympic movement. Thanks to technology we are now able to do this. But this is just the start,” Mr. Barredo said.
In the recent ASEAN Para Games in Malaysia, the Philippines had 20 gold, 20 silver and 29 bronze medal to finish fifth in the 11-country field, behind overall winner Indonesia (126-75-50), host Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. —