Our Para Games heroes
When asked what his plans for the immediate future were, Arthus Bucay, a member of the national cycling team, mentioned nothing of the cash windfall he was set to receive.
Instead, he told journalists about preparing for the next tournament: “Of course, because the competition (Asean Para Games) will be held here, I want to win the gold in front of our fellowmen.”
It may seem like a well-rehearsed, PR-polished response when read in newspaper or online reports. But the earnestness of his reply was palpable to those who interviewed him. And it struck a chord, for a reason.
Bucay is a differently-abled athlete. As a result of a biking accident that fractured his hip, one of Bucay’s legs is shorter than the other.
And yet, the handicap didn’t stop him from pursuing his dreams. And that pursuit recently ended in another moment of pride for the country, when the Philippine team to the Asian Para Games brought home 10 golds, eight silvers and 11 bronzes — a vast improvement on its Para Games performance in 2014 in Incheon, where the country collected five silver and five bronze medals.
Bucay was just one of the many heroes of the national squad, which had as headliners swimmer Ernie Gawilan (three golds, two won in record fashion) and the indefatigable chess squad powered by Sander Severino.
Like Bucay, the athletes have also vowed to prepare for two looming events. Aside from the Asean contest that will come on the heels of the country’s hosting of the Southeast Asian Games next year, there is also the Tokyo Paralympics, which will bring the curtain down on the Japanese capital’s hosting of the 2020 Olympics.
Bucay’s comment didn’t hit close to home merely because it allows the inspirational narrative — of people reaching for dreams by scaling tremendous odds — to endure.
And it has only partly to do with the fact that there is very little financial support for the country’s sporting programs, and paralympians get an even thinner slice of the pie.
In fact, the public may not notice the inadequacy of funding for national para athletes in light of the rich incentives they will be getting for their achievements in the Jakarta Games.
The 27-year-old Gawilan, who hails from Davao City, stands to collect P4 million in cash incentive as decreed by law. Bucay and Severino will take home P2.6 million and P1 million, respectively, for their accomplishments.
They will be handed their cash reward on Nov. 6 at Malacañang. Other individual and team gold winners like Kim Ian Chi of bowling and Jasper Rom, Henry Lopez, Menandro Redor, Arman Subaste and Israel Peligro of chess will receive their share of the medal bounty, too.
What is really most striking in Bucay’s statement is the expression of even more zest in the para athletes’ training for the Asean Para Games, because they want to perform exceptionally in front of their countrymen — to win golds and stand with pride on the podium while the national anthem is played on home soil.
Much of the rest of the country, however, has shown little indication that it cares at all. Social media has made little noise about our para athletes, and there wasn’t exactly a mob jostling for position to catch a glimpse of the athletes when they planed in from Jakarta.
Even then, Bucay and the rest are all excited to get a chance to perform before cheering countrymen. It is their top priority right now, the one thing that will drive their pursuit for glory.
Not one of them has solicited public outcry over the lack of funding for sports. They just want to do well when competition time comes, if only to make the country proud. And there is no question that the Philippines should be proud of its para athletes. They have overcome bigger obstacles than other athletes — in life and in sports.
But more than that, this country should commit to them that their fellow Filipinos will be there at the finish line when they conquer their foes, and sing the national anthem with them when they take the podium clutching the gold medal they fought to win. Because for Bucay and the rest of our para athletes, that gold is for us.
