MVP COMMITTED TO SUPPORT EIGHT CHOSEN SPORTS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 12 Feb 2011
Business tycoon Manny Pangilinan, in another meaningful demonstration of his passion for sports announced on Friday the launch of the MVP Sports Foundation Inc., a philanthropic organization that seeks to uplift sports in the Philippines.
Anchored on the theme ?Goal! Pilipinas? Pangalinan who turned over a giant replica of a P80 million check to the president of the Philippine Football Federation Mariano ?Nonong? Araneta representing a ten-year commitment was joined by Air 21 owner, businessman-sportsman Bert Lina who pledged an additional P21 million also over ten years saying he wanted to help and share the vision of MVP.
Pangilinan told the Inquirer that they had identified eight sports ? basketball, boxing, cycling, taekwondo, badminton , tennis, running and football and they had set ?specific, reasonably ambitious, realistic and achievable goals for each sport.?
He said that ?in many, many respects sports is a metaphor for life ? the kind of values that drive an athlete to excel are precisely the same values that drive ordinary folk to excel in their respective careers and in their lives. I think it?s a wonderful laboratory for building character, spirit, ambition and goals.?
Pangilinan stressed that sports needs the support of media because to the extent that its well broadcasted, well advertised then the advertisers will flock and when you gain more eyeballs watching football or badminton then it will generate the kind of following and support that a particular sport needs.?
Noting that over 18,000 turned out to see the Azkals play Mongolia at the Panaad stadium and 15,000 crammed the Araneta Coliseum to watch the PBA Finals between Pangalinan?s Talk N? Text champion team and San Miguel Beer, Pangilinan said it reflected the Filipinos desire for something ?wholesome and entertaining to watch and generates a lot of pride, whether its pride f or the team or pride f or the country.?
Pangilinan said ?the kind of fervor that the football fans showed was in many respects unique in the world. Football fans are different from basketball fans. They really get into the game more intensely than other types of fans.?
He also indicated that with the growing public interest and involvement in sports they are going to put demands on our sports leaders to perform better. Pangilinan said ?they should perform better because this country deserves more than what we?ve done so far and I think we in business should do our part in helping the process along.?
Pangilinan praised the support of Lina. He said ?that?s great. We are very grateful to Bert Lina for doing his part. It?s a great contribution to complement what we?ve done so far. We hope other companies will also join us. They are welcome. Its not just our exclusive province.?
He realized that the Azkals were used as the flashpoint for pushing sports development and made it clear that it was a way of starting something big and that it would provide an impetus for ? several movements to support sports like badminton, taekwondo running and others.?
Realizing the importance of television, Pangilinan revealed that his UHF Channel 41 will be launched on February 21 adding ?we do hope we could cover the eight sports that we want to support in its entirety and give it the full media backing it deserves.?
Even as he welcomed the support of Pangilinan and Lina, PFF president Araneta said he was "flabbergasted and overwhelmed" but admitted ?the pressure is now on us to deliver and to really show the sponsors that we will give glory to our country.? He assured sponsors that the PFF will ?provide financial reports to the sponsors so that they will see where the money was spent and spent well.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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