Fair Play: You see, UC sees it

UNIVERSITY of Cebu athletic director Bernard Ricablanca pulled a stunner on Milo’s Pat Goc-ong during the awarding rites of the Milo Little Olympics Visayas Eliminations last Sunday.

I don’t think Goc-ong saw it coming.



No it wasn’t when Bernard murdered Pat’s name as “Ong-goc,” it was when UC got the P40,000 winner’s check, and the school decided to return it to Milo to help the company’s relief efforts for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy.

(Just a quick question to organizers, though. I’m just curious, when you receive these giant checks during awarding ceremonies, can you really bring the oversized checks to the bank and cash it in? Or do organizers issue a separate “real check?”)

For UC, getting P40,000 from Milo every year is as easy as saying easy!

UC is so dominant in the Milo Olympics that they have won the overall title 15 times in the last 14 years.

According to Ricky Ballesteros, the man behind Milo’s success, that extra crown was not because organizers decided to give UC next year’s title this early, but came when the Milo Olympics was merged with the Cebu City Olympics in 2002.

With over half a million in earnings from Milo over the years, UC can well afford to be charitable to both Ondoy victims and to the guys who made it possible—its athletes.

Ricablanca promised that the athletes—who over the years have divided the Milo earnings among themselves—will still get an incentive from the school.

To be quite frank, I was skeptical of UC’s act. I thought UC should have done it quietly.

But then again, what UC did may have influenced others to donate. (Plus, last time I checked, Bernard wasn’t running for president. So, he’s safe.)

It’s cliché but it’s true. If UC’s act influenced just one individual to do the same, it was all worth it.

UC saw in Ondoy a chance to help fellow Pinoys outside of Cebu. They’ve been doing that for years by giving less-fortunate athletes a chance to get a degree through athletic scholarships.

The country’s favorite sport is also returning the love and support it gets from Filipinos over the years.

Aside from the individual involvement of the clubs and players, the PBA is also teaming up with the PBL, NCAA, UAAP and the Liga Pilipinas for a charity game.

According to ABS-CBN news online, on Oct. 5, the PBL’s and Liga’s best will face the best players of the NCAA and the UAAP, while the other game will feature a clash of the present and the future:

Team Pilipinas, the team of PBA stars who finished eighth during the Fiba Asia Championships last August, will face Smart Gilas, the team who will represent the country in the 2011 Fiba Asia.

Here, the M. Lhuillier Cebu Niños also got into the act. The Niños were to play the Tigers last night and the proceeds of the event will go to the relief efforts.

I love to take a dig at basketball, especially when its leaders bicker, but I take my hats off to them this time, for dishing out to Ondoy’s victims.

Running, Cebu City’s fastest growing sport, is also lending a hand for Ondoy victims.

Yong Larrazabal and his Run For Sight Foundation are holding a 5K and 10K Fun Run with the proceeds intended for the relief efforts.

Manny Pacquiao and Bob Arum have also chipped in P1 million, each, while just yesterday, I read that the P1 million Nonito Donaire Jr. received from PGMA will be channeled to a foundation that will help rebuild the houses lost in the floods.

They say sports—especially boxing matches— are a welcome distraction for weary Pinoys.

It’s heartwarming to hear that when it is needed the most, Filipinos get something from the sports they love.

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