HER HEART IS STILL AT HOM HERE
LURE OF JAPAN AND OLYMPICS IS STRONG, BUT PINOY PRIDE AND THE HUNT FOR A SEA GAMES GOLD WILL HOLD JAJA SANTIAGO TO HER PH ROOTS—FOR NOW
I’m in that part where 50 percent says I should accept it because I want to play in the Olympics, and 50 percent says not yet because I still have Filipino pride in me
Jaja Santiago has played in Japan for huge parts of the last three years. So it’s no surprise really that Santiago has developed a deep affection for the country and everything about it.
She loves the crisp weather, the surroundings and the people—fellow middle blocker Kyoko Aoyagi is one of her closest friends right now.
For a 25-year-old like her whose career is taking off to new heights, and who is discovering a lot about herself right now, Japan provides her an opportunity to do a lot of things she wouldn’t be able to do in the country.
Champion
“I ride a bike there, especially during the pandemic,” Santiago told the Inquirer recently, just after she had touched down in the Philippines after helping her Japan club, Saitama Ageo Medics, bring home the champion’s trophy.
She was in quarantine at Vivere Hotel in Alabang for six days, a protocol imposed on new arrivals from abroad (she eventually tested negative for the coronavirus), when The Volleyball Reporter caught up with her. She said the quarantine afforded her enough time to ponder about a lot of things.
One of them was the irresistible lure of Japan, and the possibility of her switching nationalities.
Like wildfire
News about the Japanese offer of naturalization spread like wildfire and opened a lot of discussions about the state of Philippine sports.
And that put a lot of unnecessary focus on a player who had just flown home to be with her family, whom she hadn’t seen in a while.
Santiago, though, admitted that there was something almost irresistible about the offer—mostly centered on the pathways it opened for her career.
“I’m in that part where 50 percent says I should accept it because I want to play in the Olympics, and 50 percent says not yet because I still have Filipino pride in me,” confided the 6-foot-5 spiker.
That should put sports officials on their toes.
After all, if Jaja Santiago becomes, well, Jaja-san, it wouldn’t be the first time that the country would lose a prized and wellloved athlete.
Memories of Wesley
More than half a decade ago, Philippine chess lost a gem of a standout in Grandmaster Wesley So, who switched federations to represent the United States in the sport.
The development opened up marvelous opportunities for So, who rose to No. 2 in the world while playing for America. He has been a force for the United States in the international chess scene, notching spectacular victories and milestones that would have been celebrated in huge headlines hereabouts had he not switched allegiances.
Perhaps even more devastating about the transfer is that So never fails to remind everyone that all his individual success would not have happened had he remained a player for the Philippines’ chess federation.
His indictment of the state of Philippine sports has been damning, as it exposes a flaw in the country’s cultural fabric.
“I did not have the connections needed to succeed in that [Philippine] culture. I was from the province, not a city boy,” said the 27-year-old So in March after finally acquiring his American citizenship.
He had spoken even more scathingly about the country’s reality before.
“The major problem is corruption. It’s hard for athletes to get financial assistance to compete abroad, especially if they don’t have connections. For example, we would send teams to the Asian Games and there would be more officials on the plane than athletes. But corruption is embedded deep within our culture. It perhaps comes from the years of colonization and domination from foreign powers. You have to know people to get anywhere. People say, you can only get rich within the Philippines if you’re a politician. For normal people, it’s impossible,” he said.
State of volleyball
And it’s not like the volleyball is in a state of Utopia when put alongside chess. The sport had long been mired in infighting, with officials jockeying for legitimacy, attention and sponsorship, leading to a cracked sporting infrastructure.
It’s not exactly an enticing lure for a talent like Santiago, whose personal career goals can be well served in other less politicized national federations.
There is hope, though. Recently, a new national federation has been formed under the guidance of the Philippine Olympic Committee, one which brought together rival stakeholders of the sport. How long the peace will last in volleyball, nobody is sure.
But Santiago is weighing other more important factors as well.
At the center of that is her family. “They are the first I consulted about it. But yes, I imagine them living there because it’s much more peaceful, safer and people are very disciplined,” said Santiago. “And they have very good way of living.”
Reciprocated love
And her love for Japan is not unrequited.
With her Ageo Medics contract expiring last month, Santiago said she got offers from Korube Aquafairies, PFU BlueCats and Toray Arrows.
Yet the most tantalizing offer on the table was the one that would make her don the Japan kit in international competitions
“They (teams) told me that if they want me to change citizenship, they can help me,” she said.
And they can help her get into the national program as well.
Japan is currently in the process of building up and reclaiming dominance in women’s volleyball.
It has won the Olympic golds in the 1964 Tokyo and 1976 Montreal Summer Games. In recent times, however, its best result was a bronze nine years ago in London.
The five-time Asian champion and five-time Asian Games winner could use somebody like Santiago, whose towering presence is coupled with raw power and impeccable timing.
Olympic dream
And what athlete wouldn’t want a shot at playing in the Olympics?
“I have more goals in my career,” Santiago said. “I want to become more consistent with the skills I have. I want to play in Europe. And of course, the Olympics.”
Being in the Olympics would certainly be a career highlight for a once lanky and uncoordinated varsity player for the University of Santo Tomas high school program, whose rough edges were shaved off at National University in college, when her name began to rise to prominence.
As Santiago grew to a height that was almost unthinkable for a Filipino woman—athlete or not—she took her place among the country’s best players in terms of talent and popularity.
Her local team, Chery Tiggo, has been all out in its support for her, allowing Santiago to skip parts of the volleyball season to fly out and play for the Ageo Medics.
“Her success is our success, too,” said the Pro Crossovers team owner Rommel Sytin. “She helped us win two championships, we support her all the way.”
Reward
Right now, she is basking in the rewards of the success she has had. She is currently in the midst of building a brand new house for herself.
“It’s a dream come true,” she said. That she still has gone out to build a home here should calm fans’ worries that she will be swearing allegiance to the Japanese flag soon.
But it doesn’t really stamp out the possibility just yet. What sports officials have is enough time to plead their case to perhaps one of the best players the country has right now.
Because Jaja Santiago has another career goal that she wants to achieve, one that would require her to remain a Filipino.
“First I would like to have that SEA (Southeast Asian) Games gold medal in a Philippines uniform.”
The problem? There is a SEA Games this year. And it would be great if a gold medal there wouldn’t mean fans will have to celebrate with a tinge of trepidation that the country could lose the player who would likely be instrumental to its regional success.