Good job!!!

With so many positive developments here at home (as against the incessant whimpers and bashings in the local political scene), today’s column is a series of congratulations.

Congratulations to the Country-wide Basketball League (CBL), the newest player in the Philippine basketball scene concieved by fellow Star columnist and president of top-notched consultancy firm, Link Edge, Reynaldo “Rey” Gamboa (yes, my brother) together with basketball icon, coach Joe Lipa. 

As you may have seen on the local TV news very recently, the ABS-CBN network has wrapped up negotiations to broadcast all the league’s games with the same group that’s also behind the resounding success of the Collegiate Champions League, the yearly tournament of all college champions that determines the team that’s  really on top of the heap.

“This league, which starts next year will be a venue for all aspiring and promising basketball players who can’t get into the PBA or the Philippine Basketball Association due to its present limited number of teams,” said Rey, who’s the league’s chairman and president. “These budding dribblers may come from anywhere in the country as part of teams representing the different provinces nationwide to form a parallel professional basketball league,” he added during the contract signing ceremonies with the TV giant.

This move is seen by basketball enthusiasts and keen observers of the country’s most popular sport as another big boost to present efforts to further help young talents hone and develop their skills for international competitions.   

Lawyer Pablo “Boy” de Borja, is vice chairman and commissioner of the Country-wide Basketball League, while coach Joe Lipa is vice president and GM of basketball operations.

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Congratulations too to Armscor for the recently-held 15th Bolo Cup at their Armscor Shooting Range in Marikina which is a major shooting competition that is internationally-recognized. This level 3 competition with 15 stages of pistol matches and mini rifle stages had 420 local and foreign competitors vying for top honors and served as a qualifying match for the coming World Shoot. It is Mr. Bolo Tuason’s hope that in the world shoot, it is the Philippine National Anthem that will be played during the awards night and no other country’s anthem. He hopes our local boys will make the country proud.

 As a brief backgrounder, 15 years ago, the chief of the National Capital Region of the Philippine National Police, Gen. Danny de la Paz asked Mr. Bolo Tuason, then head honcho of the Armscor Group of Companies, permission to use their range and lend his name to the PNP’s shooting competition and Bolo readily said yes. That was the first Bolo Cup, and 15 years later, the competition continues to draw hundreds of competitors from abroad and from all over the country.

The Armscor Shooting Range has been around for 20 years, and Bob Sajot, general manager of Armscor Shooting Range, shared Armscor would now venture into adventure sports like archery, for instance in this range.  Their Survival Adventure Expo was held recently, a first in the Philippines featuring disaster-preparedness for kids, basic archery, the long lost art of tirador, knife throwing, rope skills and a lot more. No one has thought of reviving the art of tirador and I am especially excited about this revival of a widely popular children’s sport in the countryside. The art of making your own tirador, choosing the right tree and polishing it to perfection is a personal expression of any kid back in the day when toys were hand-made and not store-bought.

Unknown to many, the Armscor group which is now headed by Bolo’s very dynamic son Martin, has laudable CSR projects. Apart from their yearly medical and dental missions held in different areas, they have their orphanage (Bata Foundation) and their Bigay Awa at Tanglaw sa Mga Anghel Foundation as well where they send 17 young girls to school. This was shared to us by the top lady boss of Armscor who’s been a great part in the dynamic growth of the company, Ms. Gina Angangco.

Kudos to this very progressive company which is now making a big name in the international scene where many excellent Armscor-made firearms and ammunitions made right here in the Philippines have made their way to the United States and other countries under the initiative and leadership of Martin.

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Congratulations to the Caltex-Chevron group, for their latest corporate social responsibility project. They have a drive now called Fuel Your School participated in by all Chevron retailers wherein, for every four liters of Caltex fuel that you load into your vehicle, Caltex Chevron will donate one peso to your favorite school.

This endeavor was hatched by the company in cooperation with the Department of Education and the American Chamber of Commerce, and has been met with so much enthusiasm, according to one of the Pasig dealers of Caltex, Mr. Eric Cajucom.  It is interactive and empowers the consumer by allowing them to choose which schools they wish to donate to.

The goal is to reach P5 million in the Greater Manila area and according to Mr. Jun Salipsip, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce Foundation (the socio-civic arm of AmCham), this will go a long way in helping schools upgrade their facilities, get new equipment, etc. The Foundation visited several schools and found many of them wanting in facilities and equipment.  Their focus as of the moment is on science and technology, and the amount that can be raised by this joint project will be used for laboratory and testing materials, desk tops, LCD projectors, etc.

The American Chamber of Commerce Foundation, according to Mr. Salipsip, is happy to partner with Caltex Chevron because of their shared advocacy of developing the youth in the Philippines.

Perhaps with the expected success of this project, it can be spread out in the future to other areas of the country so that more schools will benefit from the project.

Kudos for this very laudable project!!!

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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