Volcanoes prove their pride

“I don’t understand it. When we’re in Australia, people say ‘You’re not Australian; you’re Filipino.’ When we’re here (in the Philippines, people say ‘You’re not Filipino; you’re Australian.’” 

This was the amused comment of Michael Letts, a Fil-Australian captain of the Philippine Volcanoes, who are hosting the Asian Five Nations (A5N) level one tournament at the Rizal Memorial football field beginning Sunday evening. The Volcanoes will be seeing action in 15s against Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka, whom they’ve all beaten in 7s competition.

Sri Lanka is stepping down a level after a disaster befell them last season. This was similar to what happened to Korea in the A5N 7s Elite level, where they were forced to play with a weaker team because half their players were playing professionally in Japan. Korea dropped down to Level 1, then dealt the Philippines its first loss ever in 7s. But the Volcanoes got their revenge a few weeks later in the Asian Championships.

The Volcanoes, like the Azkals, recently faced their own bout with racism, when Fiji Rugby posted an online comment about the race of the team, a comment which was later withdrawn and apologized for. This weekend will prove just how much Filipino football fans have accepted the Volcanoes, who have been ranked anywhere between 50th and 70th in the world in recent months.

“The players have worked very hard, and we came together early for this tournament,” says head coach Expo Mejia, who grew up in Australia and coached professional rugby there before finding out about the Philippine Rugby Football Union’s (PRFU) development program and coming home. “They are very proud of their heritage, and are pumped up about playing at home. We haven’t hosted an international tournament in about three years.”

Of course, racism in sport is a familiar and disappointing refrain. Greats like Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson and dozens of other champions have faced the challenge of proven their worth as human beings and not just as sportsmen. They faced hostility in many places, even in their homeland, and prevailed.

In the Philippines, there is also an existing double standard in terms of race and complexion. Products that whiten skin have flooded the market, and our standards of beauty gravitate towards the fair-skinned. Rare is the athlete like Manny Pacquiao who crosses all boundaries even in terms of endorsements. It seems glaring, but accepted. That is, until an outsider points it out to us.

Just flip the channels on your cable TV, and you’ll notice the vast majority of talents on entertainment programs (and even athletes who’ve crossed over into show business) are all mestizos or have had their skin lightened. Granted, we had centuries of Spanish influence and decades of American homogenization, but still, we are, as a nation, divided over what we consider beautiful.

For the next week, we can prove our unity and pride by backing our Volcanoes in full voice and passion. They are Filipino by blood and in spirit. They have sweated and bled for the flag in a sport known for its roughness. Let us erupt in a loud cheer for them as they reach for greatness in a young sport, a new Olympic sport.

They are, after all our national team.