EDITORIAL

Sports As Economic Indicator

On March 14 – 19, Aklan will play host to the West Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) competition. However, some sports officials have started arriving in Kalibo since Tuesday, March 9 for various purposes connected with the sports competition.

The municipalities of Lezo, Makato, Numancia and Kalibo will serve as hosts of delegations from Guimaras, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental including the component cities from those provinces while the principal venue of the games is Calangcang, Makato. Other games will be played in Lezo, Numancia and Kalibo. Track and field, swimming, basketball will be played in Makato.

Badminton, Volleyball and other ball games will be played in Kalibo. Sepak Takraw will be played in Lezo. Almost all the cultural contests like singing will take place in Kalibo.

The game starts on Sunday March 14 but the opening ceremonies will be held on Monday morning in Makato. Games will be suspended while the opening ceremony takes place on Monday morning. Sports competition will resume on Monday afternoon.

To those who question the delay of the opening ceremonies, the answer is the delayed arrival of the guest of honor and speaker.

Mr. Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro, Jr. former Tarlac congressman and secretary of the Department of National Defense and now presidential candidate for the May 10 national election is unable to attend on Sunday, March 14. Being the guest of honor and speaker, the management in the conduct of the regional sports events wait for his arrival to grace the opening ceremonies.

For the lack of the needed sports facilities, Aklan will host this annual sports competition among the school youth of Western Visayas after 16 years. The last time Aklan hosted the WVRAA was in 1995. Thanks to the administration of Governor Carlito S. Marquez for devoting some amount for the rehabilitation, repair and development of the Calangcang Sports Complex in Makato. After this yearly sports events, these sports facilities will stay available for physical and mental development of the Aklanon youth. It will develop sportsmanship among our people particularly the youth. As Grantland Rice once said, "When the great scorer checks your name, he marks not that you won, or lost but how you played the game".

Sports is a gauge, as well, how far a nation has improved her economy. In 1964, Tokyo, Japan hosted the Olympics. After the games, her economy surged. In that year, the money conversion was 315 yen to one US dollar. Today, it is one US dollar to 107 yen.

In 1967, Spain was as reach as the Philippines but perhaps the poorest in Western Europe. Like the Filipinos of today, Spanish women went to its neighboring countries for seasonal jobs. Spain was not a member of the European Economic Community that time. Her money was called "peso". After the Barcelona Olympics, the Spanish economy improved. Today, Spain is as wealthy as any country of the European Union.

It is expected that the Province of Aklan will perform well in this WVRAA competitions, as the performance of the people in sports is parallel to their performance in economics and business.

Cited are the Philippines’ neighbor countries. Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand appear more advanced than the Philippines in sports that they have also better economy than the Philippines. South Korea after hosting the Olympic Games in Seoul is now becoming a tiger economy. Today, it is so difficult to beat the South Koreans in basketball than 30 years ago when the South Koreans were the weeping boys of the Filipinos.

The performance of the Aklanon athletes including cultural is a good indicator as to how far the Province of Aklan has advanced both in sports and the economics in comparison with other provinces of Region VI or Western Visayas. /MP