CASTILLEJO'S 'KRUSADA' VISITS OLYMPIC MEDALIST BOXERS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 24 Jan 2011
The other night we watched the TV program ?Krusada? hosted by Dyan Castillejo, an outstanding national tennis player in her time and a very athletic lady even today. Her singular efforts to spotlight the various attractions all over our country on her ?Sports Unlimited? show is in itself a remarkable boost to tourism even as it tells us what a beautiful country we live in.
In an industry that regrettably spends hours on inane programs with no redeeming values at all and where even newscasts set aside segments for reports on the follies and foibles of show business people as though it even remotely constitutes news, the program ?Krusada? provided a riveting insight into the plight of two Olympic medalists. At least it provided redeeming substance to the slogan ?in the service of the Filipino? which the ABS-CBN network espouses.
1964 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Anthony Villanueva who the late incomparable sportscaster Joe Cantada who covered the fight believed was robbed of a gold medal by the Soviet Union?s Stanislav Stepashkin and 1988 Seoul Olympics bronze medalist Leopoldo Serrante today live in desperate times and in the shackles of near abject poverty.
Their misery is compounded by the fact that both men are seriously ill and cannot even afford a decent meal let alone the medicines they need on a daily basis. How far indeed can a P6,000 monthly allowance provided by government through the Philippine Sports Commission go?
Their fate reflects in telling fashion how two young men who were embraced by our country and people when they brought us honor and glory and were received with motorcades as confetti rained down on them, have long been forgotten. It is the sad reality of how often we fail to remember the ennobling moments in our nation?s life.
Their pain didn?t seem to be what they felt physically but rather stemmed from the knowledge that they had been effectively abandoned and that nobody really cared. Villanueva, battered by several strokes that have paralyzed part of a body that once was a finely chiseled specimen of a superb boxer whispered to Dyan that he?d rather die than try to live. Serrantes felt much the same way.
The saving grace in Villanueva?s daily struggle is his wife Liezel, a woman who spends her waking hours carrying Anthony around and attending to his every need because he is unable to walk. She travels from Cabuyao, Laguna to Batangas on a regular basis to buy vegetables and sell them with the meager profit helping feed the two of them and a twelve year old son.
Serrantes who is a former army man with seven children, is also struggling to survive let alone live. Fortunately his spirits were lifted when Dyan and her crusading team which includes Nina ?Jake? Aspiras was able to follow up the benefits due him from the armed forces. After getting the run-around for years Army Lieut. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, a "Medal for Valor" awaree took just one day to have the check prepared, was there to personally hand over the check to Serrantes and had the bank branch which was closed, opened, to help Leopoldo withdraw some money. That in itself was a inspiring moment because contrary to the image of the armed forces which is sometimes put in a bad light we witnessed a top general demonstrating that there were good and decent men in our armed forces who cared.
For sure the program had its shortcomings because of an obvious lack of video to tell the story which again demonstrated a national weakness of failing to archive great moments in sports which is only now being addressed. Indeed, it was a reflection of our lackadaisical attitude towards remembering historic achievements and an indifference that needs to be corrected.
Ultimately, the TV program made up with some telling close ups of both Olympic medalists in an emotional mirror of their plight. Conveying their feelings, both intoned they?d rather die. But with crusading media people sensing the moment and telling the story, they may well belive there is a reason to live because something is being done to correct injustice and to show that there are many who indeed care. It is never too late and ?Krusada? has shown the way.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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