Fair Play: A different kind of sports event

DR. Potenciano "Yong" Larrazabal and Lehmar Baunsit are as different as night and day, but, in the past few days, they showed they have the same heart when it comes to showing concern.

Last Monday, Ipang, who once won the the National Coke-Go-For-Goal, announced that he was organizing the Football For Gab tournament, which was held yesterday at Don Bosco Labangon.

What makes this tournament unique is that this was a chance for the whole BPO football community--and they are an active bunch--to help one of its own, the parents of Baby Gab, who needs some P800,000 to P1 million for a surgery.


Ipang, whose teammates with Baby Gab's father, decided to hold a tournament, with the registration fee to be given directly to the fund raising efforts.  One tounament may not hit the target, but, things like these makes you appreciate the people you compete against, especially when they help you.

Last Thursday, too, I got called to a hurriedly-arranged press conference by Doc Yong and his wife Donna Cruz, for yet another running event.

But, this is no ordinary running event.

Last Monday, while watching the news about the flooding in Manila, Doc Yong and Donna were moved, especially about the coverage of the flood in Pampanga.

"They haven't even recovered from the flooding and it was raining again because of the typhoon," Doc Yong said.

"Ang iba sa kanila, kumakain na lang daw ng daga," Donna said.

“Watching the news, in the comforts of Cebu, which hasn't seen a heavy downpour in weeks, the two, who are in the middle of organizing the seventh edition of their University Run and in the middle of Cebu Doctors University Week and anniversary, decided to do what they do best.

Hold a run to raise funds for the flood victims.

Normally, an organizer needs at least two months to prepare for a run, not two weeks.  But the couple's experience and their contacts are proving to be quite an advantage.

"I work with the same technical team for all my events, we have our own staff and clinic to handle the registration and we know who to contact for support," Yong said.

Among those they contacted for help is Cebu Football Association president Ricky Dakay, whose company will provide the lighting for the night race on Aug. 25 at CDU's campus at the North Reclamation Area.

"Ricky says he will also run in the event since he said he doesn't join the Sunday runs because he only runs at night," Yong said.

Registration fee for the 6K and 3K is P300, but that's just a suggested fee.  Since this is a fund-raising effort, you can pay P300, P3,000, or P30,000 if you can and all the money raised will go to the flood victims.  You can sign up as many of your friends at www.runforsight.net and

"We are very lucky in Cebu and this will be a chance for us to do our part," said Yong.

We are lucky indeed, for the kind of weather we have.

We are lucky too, that we have people like Doc Yong and Donna and Ipang, who aside from talking about helping others, are helping others.