7th Season National Athletic Association
of Schools, Colleges and Universities

7th Season National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU)
Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Vito Cruz
21 July 2007, 8 AM

Keynote Speaker
Senator Edgardo J. Angara

I am happy to be here with you at the opening of the 7th Season of the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities (NAASCU).

As athletes, you are our ambassadors of goodwill. Ang bawat tagumpay ninyo ay nagdadala ng pag-asa at patuloy na pagmamalaki sa mga Filipino at sa buong bansa.

Kasama sa honor roll ng ating mga atleta as sina:

• Efren "The Magician" Reyes, 1985 Red 9-Ball Open champion
• PSC's Eric Buhain, bronze medalist in swimming at the Beijing Asian Games
• Eugene Torre, Asia's first chess grandmaster at the age of 22
• Elma Muros, Southeast Asian Games heptathlon queen in 1997
• Francisco Django Bustamante, one of billiard's greatest international stars
• Lydia de Vega, Asia's fastest woman in the 1980s
• Paeng Nepomuceno, six-time world champion in bowling and a Guiness Book of World Records holder

Sa boxing, nand'yan sina:

• Francisco Pancho Villa Guilledo, Asia' first world champion in boxing and known as the greatest flyweight of the country
• Gabriel "Flash" Elorde dubbed as the greatest Filipino boxer of all time
• Manny Pacquiao who at the age of 23 won the International Boxing Federation super bantamweight

Golf, we have:

• Gerald Rosales, Asian Games silver medalist and Southeast Asian Games two-time champion
• Jennifer Rosales, five-time Philippine Ladies' Amateur Open Champion
• Dorothy Delasin, the youngest in the Ladies' Professional Golf Association in the last 25 years

Countless Filipinos have brought home pride in the sports field and looking at our honor list, talaga ngang nagtatagumpay tayo sa kahit na anong larangang ng palakasan.

Noon lamang isang lingo, nanalo tayo laban sa Lebanon, Syria and China sa 4-Nation Manila Invitational Game. RP Team is getting all geared-up for the Fiba-Asia Olypic Qualifier in Japan and hopefully to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The country indeed must focus on sports that we excel in and capitalize on it. We need to give our athletes the best training on their field. Tap athletes from faraway places so we are sure that we are training the best in the land.

Other than the sports that we already excel in, we also need to pour in resources to other sports, those that we are not yet so good at o yung medyo dehado pa tayo.

I will move for the genuine support of different sports in the country, from football, sepak takraw, billiards, various forms of martial arts, to name some. Kailangan natin ng mga polisiya na magbibigay ng oportunidad sa ating mga atleta para maabot nila ang kanilang pinakamataas na potensyal.

Early last year, I invited a coaching team from the Andulasian Football Federation in Spain and the Philippine Football Federation to hold clinics for Filipino coaches. The training was participated in by 54 coaches from 37 provinces all over the country.

Our aim was to bring soccer training to the grassroots level-the schools systems. Ang football ay nababagay sa ating mga Filipino.

In Japan, school plays an important role in the students' sports participation. School offers free after-school sports activities for its students and encourages them to join school-sponsored sports club and teams.

China, one of the oldest sporting cultures in the world, underscores the need for physical fitness among elderly and the students.

The importance of sports cannot be overemphasized. Sa mga kabataan, nagtuturo ito nga camaraderie at sportsmanship at naglalayo pa sa kanila sa adiksyon sa droga at iba pang mga bisyo. To the elderly, the health benefit is better than doses of vitamins. Para sa ating bansa, panahon na para makilala tayo sa mundo sa larangan ng palakasan.

We need to institutionalize and pursue sports development programs in the country for all sports. It is time we realize the country's highest potential in the sports arena.

Ang pagmamahal ng mga Filipino sa sports, ang ating kakayanan at ang ating honor roll ng mga atleta ay sapat ng konbiksyon na nagtagumpay tayo at magtatagumpay tayo sa larangan ng palakasan. If we devote enough time, money and attention, our country will become an athletic champion.

As they say, "The winds of grace are always blowing but to catch them we have to raise our sails."

Umaasa ako na kayong naririto ngayon ay mauuna sa magtataas ng kanilang layag.

Maraming salamat.