Nearly 750 kids from South Cotabato benefitted from the breakthrough partnership of Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Sports Institute and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Tuesday with the staging of the grassroots sports program of the Mindanao Sports for Peace Caravan at the Bangsa Moro ARMM Sports Complex in Cotabato.
Kids from Maguindanao 1, Maguindanao 2 and Cotabato City exceeded the estimated 500 numbers of participants that simultaneously played the sports of basketball, volleyball, chess, football, sepak takraw and athletics.
National coaches and elite athletes belong to the enlisted military personnel conducted the morning training and the mini-competition held in the afternoon.
“May isang panahon na kinikilala ang mga taga-Maguindanao tulad nina Asian Games medalist Tukal Mukalam at Mona Sulaiman sa pabilisan sa takbuhan. Pero matagal na nawala pati na rin sa mga kabataan dahil sa kailangan nilang tumakbo, hindi para sa kompetisyon kundi para sa kanilang mga buhay,” said BARMM-MBHTE Minister Hon. Monaguer A. Iqbal-Al-Haj.
“Nagpapasalamat kami sa PSC-PSC at AFP sa pagbibigay ng bagong direksiyon sa buhay ng ating mga kabataan na hindi na sila tatakbo para iligtas ang kanilang buhay, kundi ang pag-asa na mabigyan at matikam naman nila ang isang magandang buhay,” said BSC-BARMM Chairman Norhan Malaguiok Uka.
AFP General Services Chief Colonel Taharudin Piang Ampatuan praises PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez for fully supporting the caravan which aims to visit a total of 17 provinces in the hope of bridging education and sports in achieving a lasting peace and security in Mindanao.
“We want to accomplished three objectives here in aiming to encourage our kids into sports and educate them, then get them away from the call of the conflict here in Mindanao, and see them as being considered as young promising athletes that could be recruited by good schools and become national players,” said Ampatuan.
Earlier, that PSC0PSI-AFP partnership conducted a one-day sports and leadership seminar to some 50 Ate and Kuya that serves as caretakers of the participating kids.
PSC Commissioner Charles Raymond Maxey, who represents Chairman Ramirez, handed the awards to the winners of the mini-competition of the six events held in the afternoon.
