MANILA, Philippines – Differently abled athletes will now have their Paralympic movement in the country.
This after the Philippine Sport for the Differently Abled (Philspada) formed the Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC), which will serve as the counterpart of the Philippine Olympic Committee that is the mother of all sports association in the country today.
The PPC will be headed by its president Mike Barredo, a former Philippine Sports commissioner who also heads the Philspada, with Tom Carrasco of triathlon and Ral Rosario of swimming as vice president and secretary-general.
The PPC will also be operated by a management group that will include Debbie Tolentino, Kiko Diaz, Manny Calanog and John Alonte as its officials.
“Just like the Olympic movement, there is also the Paralympic movement so it is appropriate that we start now,” said Carrasco.
Carrasco said the next step now is for National Sports Associations to form their own groups for the differently abled and follow a group called the Philippine Para-Chessers Association (PPCA) headed by James Infiesto and has been in existence for three years now.
Meanwhile, a 164-member strong Philippine delegation is set to leave Wednesday to plunge into action in the 9th ASEAN Para Games set Sept. 17-23 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Ral Rosario will be the first to leave as he attends the chef de mission meeting Tuesday while the bulk of the delegation will fly on two batches tomorrow, one in the morning and the other one in the afternoon.
The Philippines is seeking to match, if not surpass, the 16-gold performance in the last ASEAN Para Games in Singapore two years ago.
The country are fielding in athletes in athletics (nine), badminton (seven), boccia (three), chess (17), cycling (three), goal ball (six), powerlifting (five), table tennis (nine), swimming (10), Tenpin bowling (15) and wheelchair basketball (12).