The 10th ASEAN Para Games, spearheaded by the Philippine Paralympic Committee, officially commenced its a one-year countdown ceremony recently at the Novotel Manila, Quezon City.
The ASEAN Para Games will take place in 2020 and will be under the authority of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation, whose representatives performed an ocular inspection at the official venues of the event in Clark, Subic, and Manila prior to the ceremony.
“We have decided and confirmed 14 sports and we’re looking at an addition of maybe four more, hoping that we’ll be able to decide on this come end of February before we release the first entry forms first of March,” said PPC President Michael Barredo.
“Back in 2000, we had the first national games in the Philippines for persons with disabilities in Cebu. Twenty years later, we will be doing our 10th ASEAN Para Games here. Twenty years ago as well, we were able to win our first Paralympic medal in the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games,“ he added.
Adeline Ancheta, Paralympic Powerlifter and the country’s first female bronze medalist at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, was present in the ceremony and even shared her experiences on her career journey in sports despite being afflicted with polio when she was just three years of age.
“As early as then, I knew that I wanted to compete and represent the Philippines. However, I was told to forget about it because there was no way it would happen. During that time, support for para sports was almost non-existent. There was no proper training equipment for para powerlifting. Slowly but surely, one difficult step at a time, with the persistent effort of our NPC, we began to receive trickles of support from private entities and the government,” said Ancheta.
“Twenty-one years later, I am still here. An athlete, who is a lot older and wiser. Appreciative of the positive impact of sports in my life. We win as one when together we can transcend barriers to make for a more inclusive society through para sports. Mabuhay!,” she added.
The biannual multisport event for differently-abled athletes will be participated in by 11 member countries of the region, comprising of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste, and the Philippines.