Think of doing good

Why can’t we just stop talking about cheating and focus our efforts on doing things right?

This covers not only the elections but sports as well.

Let’s start with the elections since the national polls less than seven months away. The move to automate the polls have been met with mixed reactions, but more prevalent are the worries raised about how cheating will be done even by people, who are merely speculating or simply grandstanding.

Why do we have to start anything by asking how the cheaters would find loopholes? Why can’t we do it the other way around where we educate people at how to do it properly so they can help guard against cheating?

Why don’t the poll body and these political parties spend more time teaching people about the new technology rather than finding ways how to tinker with the system?

The same story can be said about many sporting competitions where there have been many incidents of cheating in all levels.

The most shameful was probably when the Philippine team that won the World Little League Championships in the early 1980s was found to have fielded players so much older than 13 years old.

We had many incidents in the Palarong Pambansa and the lower level competitions leading to it, even in the inter-barangay competitions that has discouraged many from participating.

Are we a nation of cheats? 

I would say no, but then if we allow cheats to take the limelight then probably the world would think of us as such.

We are a people, who can do a lot of good if we only concentrate on doing such instead of finding loopholes or ways to cheat.

There are so many good things that can happen if we focus our energy on doing them instead of finding ways to cheat.

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Golf Magazine once reported that in the United States it costs parents $20,000 a year so they could raise a prospective Tour-quality player.

In our Philippine pesos this translates to close to a million every year, which covers not only lessons, practices, but also travels to various tournaments.

It is not cheap to raise good players, but I know many supportive parents in Cebu, who are not sparing any expense to raise champions.

One thing that would surely help these parents realize their dream is to have a strong professional tour in the country, which our junior golf champions now can look forward to competing in after they hit 18 years old.

This way, the money that parents spend while their children are of jungolf age can be put to even better use.

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MILESTONES: September is a busy month for birthdays.

Today’s greetings go to our adopted high school classmate Dr. Bimbo Cabahug, Lovelie Chiong, Carrie Sabello-Senining and to our uncle Fitzroy ‘Gabbi’ Gabbidon.

Advance greetings go to my wife’s nephew Joseph R. Ybarita, Atty. Joselito Castillo and to Karla Kintanar-Fernandez, who are turning a year older tomorrow.

Belated greetings go to Anne B. Sy, who turned a year older yesterday.

More power to all of you!