DepEd scraps boxing from Palarong

Pambansa elementary division

MANILA, Philippines Education Secretary Armin Luistro has scrapped boxing in the
elementary division from this years Palarong Pambansa after a 16-year-old student boxer died at
a regional athletic meet last year.
He however retained boxing in the high school division, along with other Palarong Pambansa
contact sports arnis and taekwondo.
Last December, Jonas Garcia, a fourth-year high school student from Bulacan, died after days in
a coma following the second round of a boxing bout at the Central Luzon Regional Athletic
Association meet in Iba, Zambales.
His death prompted calls to ban combative sports in DepEd-sanctioned athletic meets.
Boxing in the elementary division shall be excluded, Luistro said in his February 12
memorandum in which he officially identified the sports to be included in the 57th Palarong
Pambansa to be held from May 4 to 10 in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.
Wrestling, another contact sport, would be introduced for the first time in the Palarong Pambansa
as a no-bearing demonstration sport.
Wushu, billiards and the football-variant futsal would also remain demonstration sports even
after they made their debut as demo sports in last years Palarong Pambansa.
Luistro said Sipa in the elementary division would now be played as Sepak Takraw Jr. and will
be government by the rules in Sepak Takraw.
Hosted by the Department of Education and the Laguna provincial government this year, the
annual Palarong Pambansa serves as a talent pool for future national athletes.
The regular events of the Palarong Pambansa are archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball,
basketball, boxing, chess, football, gymnastics (artistic and rhythmic), sepak takraw, softball,
swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and volleyball.
As demonstration sports, wushu, billiards, futsal and wrestling will have no merit in the medal
count of the participating regions, although the individual winners will be awarded medals.

Editorial: A wake-up call

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Thursday, December 19, 2013

FROM a sport where the country pins its hopes for an elusive Olympic gold medal claimed a
casualty recently with the death of 16-year-old Jonas Joshua Garcia who fell into a coma after a
boxing match in the regional athletic meet.
The teener, who was seeking a berth in the Palarong Pambansa, may have climbed the ring in
high spirits as he was not only competing for himself but for the city or province he represented.
Any amateur athlete as young and aggressive as Garcia exudes a drive that will "go for the kill"
when the games begin. Just every athlete will go to a competition raring to win, to dominate.
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In a qualifying event just like the Department of Education (Deped)-organized regional
eliminations, the goal for each one will be to advance into the Palaro where the stakes are bigger
and opportunities wider since top performers in the annual sportsfest for elementary and
secondary athletes get scholarship offers from big universities in Metro Manila as others are
invited to join the national training pool.
Garcia may just be one of those who dreamed to make it big in his sport. It's sobering thought
that his dreams and aspirations in life also died with him.
His untimely demise elicited varied reactions, others even calling for the abolition of boxing in
sports competitions. Others resort to blame shifting.
But come to think of it, the young boxer's death is a wake-up call for local, regional and national
sports officials.
From the schools, officials need to identify athletes who have the make-up, talent and skill to
play a particular sport.
It's dangerous to force a student to play a sport he or she doesn't even know. Any ordinary
student should not be fielded just because there is a need for players to form a team. A proper
selection process should be in place and experts must handle the proper identification program.
It's also worth noting that not all teachers can be a credible and efficient coach or trainer. How
can one coach a chess team without even knowing the function of each piece. How can one
mentor a basketball team and yet ignorant with the rules.

If it's not really your cup of tea, then, why push it? When you are assigned to coach a team of a
specific sport and know nothing about it, then decline. Be honest to say that you are not up to the
task.
Otherwise, you will only embarrass yourself and endanger your athletes.
Another thing to consider is the duration of the athletes' training before going into the
competition. Two or three weeks will never be enough to ready them for the battle. If elite
athletes going into the Olympics train for years then why give amateur athletes, including
beginners, so little time for training.
A suggestion that also arose was that of a neurosurgeon who was interviewed on TV that the
Department of Education must require boxers to have comprehensive scans, not just a check-up
by a general practitioner, before they join a competition. The test, the doctor said, might have
saved a lot of lives including that of Garcia's.
We also welcome a suggestion by Sun.Star Cebu sports editor Mike Limpag to hold boxing
meets near hospitals that can deal with a major trauma. Thus, holding boxing events in the
outskirts should no longer be an option even if that means staging them in Cebu or Manila.
Cebu City's Z Gorres suffered the same injury as that of Garcia but he survived because he was
fighting just a few minutes away from the world's best trauma center in the world.
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on December 20, 2013.

Opinion

Editorial: A wake-up call

FROM a sport where the country pins its hopes for an elusive Olympic gold medal claimed a
casualty recently with the death of 16-year-old Jonas Joshua Garcia who fell into a coma after a
boxing match in the regional athletic meet.
The teener, who was seeking a berth in the Palarong Pambansa, may have climbed the ring in
high spirits as he was not only competing for himself but for the city or province he represented.
Any amateur athlete as young and aggressive as Garcia exudes a drive that will "go for the kill"
when the games begin. Just every athlete will go to a competition raring to win, to dominate.
In a qualifying event just like the Department of Education (Deped)-organized regional
eliminations, the goal for each one will be to advance into the Palaro where the stakes are bigger
and opportunities wider since top performers in the annual sportsfest for elementary and

secondary athletes get scholarship offers from big universities in Metro Manila as others are
invited to join the national training pool.
Garcia may just be one of those who dreamed to make it big in his sport. It's sobering thought
that his dreams and aspirations in life also died with him.
His untimely demise elicited varied reactions, others even calling for the abolition of boxing in
sports competitions. Others resort to blame shifting.
But come to think of it, the young boxer's death is a wake-up call for local, regional and national
sports officials.
From the schools, officials need to identify athletes who have the make-up, talent and skill to
play a particular sport.
It's dangerous to force a student to play a sport he or she doesn't even know. Any ordinary
student should not be fielded just because there is a need for players to form a team. A proper
selection process should be in place and experts must handle the proper identification program.
It's also worth noting that not all teachers can be a credible and efficient coach or trainer. How
can one coach a chess team without even knowing the function of each piece. How can one
mentor a basketball team and yet ignorant with the rules.
If it's not really your cup of tea, then, why push it? When you are assigned to coach a team of a
specific sport and know nothing about it, then decline. Be honest to say that you are not up to the
task.
Otherwise, you will only embarrass yourself and endanger your athletes.
Another thing to consider is the duration of the athletes' training before going into the
competition. Two or three weeks will never be enough to ready them for the battle. If elite
athletes going into the Olympics train for years then why give amateur athletes, including
beginners, so little time for training.
A suggestion that also arose was that of a neurosurgeon who was interviewed on TV that the
Department of Education must require boxers to have comprehensive scans, not just a check-up
by a general practitioner, before they join a competition. The test, the doctor said, might have
saved a lot of lives including that of Garcia's.
We also welcome a suggestion by Sun.Star Cebu sports editor Mike Limpag to hold boxing
meets near hospitals that can deal with a major trauma. Thus, holding boxing events in the
outskirts should no longer be an option even if that means staging them in Cebu or Manila.

Cebu City's Z Gorres suffered the same injury as that of Garcia but he survived because he was
fighting just a few minutes away from the world's best trauma center in the world.