Chavit sweetens pot for Philippine shooting team

MANILA, Philippines — Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Mayor Luis “Chavit” Singson yesterday exhorted members of the Philippine national shooting team to win more honor for the country, offering an additional P250,000 for every gold medal won in the 30th SEA Games.

“I wish them all the luck and pray that we will win as one,” said Singson, president of both the Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), in his pep talk before the national shooters, who paid him a courtesy call at his residence in Quezon City recently.

Singson, himself an avid practical shooter, said the shooting team has a good chance of winning at least six events in the SEA Games after the team emerged as the top Southeast Asian country in the recent Asian Shooting Championships in Doha, Qatar, finishing seventh out of 14 Asian teams overall.

He said trap shooters Carlos Carag and Hagen Topacio have qualified for next year’s Tokyo Olympics while other team members – trap shooter Eric Ang; rifle shooters Jayson Valdez, Amparo Acuña, Denise Basila and Sean Jayfred Ocampo; pistol shooters Shanin Lyn Gonzales, Juliette Rose Arellano, Marcelo Gonzales, and Angelo Michael Fernandez – are also serious threats to the other Southeast Asian teams.

Singson lauded PNSA vice president Irene Garcia, coaches Julius Valdez, Fernando Mercado, Susan Aguado and armorer Mario Dasalla for their roles in gaining honors for the country in the Asian championship.

Mercado had earlier expressed confidence in his trap shooting squad because their scores at the Asian event were equivalent to gold medals in both the individual and team competitions in the SEA Games.

Singson said his wards, who will be participating in the rifle 10m, pistol 10m, benchrest rifle shooting, precision pistol competition, MS and moving target category, will contribute to the country’s bid to win the targeted 220 gold medals in the Games, earlier set by leaders of the various national sports associations.

Singson noted that the target is more than twice the number of gold medals won by the Philippines when it last won the overall championship in 2005 in Manila. As host then, the Philippines won 113 golds while Thailand garnered 87 golds and Vietnam took 71.

“It’s a tall order but I know Team Pilipinas can and will do it,” he said before the members of the shooting team, which will join the rest of the Filipinos vying in 530 events in 56 sports during the Games.