Protecting doctors in Laguna

Los Baños, Laguna is touted as the science city of Laguna, and is home to many foreign visitors trying to do research there, as well. It is also growing consistently, as proven by construction constantly taking place. But sometimes, the good also comes with the bad. Economic progress often has a twin, which is crime. Among the common victims of theft in Los Baños are its doctors.

“After clinic, people know that doctors always have a lot of cash on them, especially at night,” explains Dr. Vergel Eusebio, who owns hospitals in and around Los Baños. “So robbers usually just wait for them in parking lots, especially female doctors.”

In his search for a more exciting personal fitness regime, Eusebio stumbled upon the answer to the city’s security problem: muay thai.

“I was overweight, and wanted to do something that would also be more fun and dynamic,” says the trim 52-year old pediatrician out of St. Jude Family Hospital. “I used to be really muscular.

Then I got overweight. In just a few months of muay thai, I became much more fit than doctors 20 years younger.”

Eusebio and some of his fellow muay students even went to the extent of participating in public demonstrations of muay aerobics.

He felt embarrassed at first, until people started overcoming their initial snickering and tried it out, realizing it was more challenging than it seemed.

Eventually, Eusebio realized it could also help the people of Los Baños. With some well-placed close friends, he took over an abandoned four-storey building right on the highway, and converted it into St. Michael’s Sports Academy, where they now teach martial arts including, of course, muay thai.

“We in the local government have always supported sports endeavors by friends like Dr. Eusebio. Now, he’s also putting Los Baños on the map in terms of dynamic sports like muay thai,” adds city councilor Baby Sumangil-Evangelista.

Last Sunday, the Philippine muay thai team, including two bronze medalists from the world championships and two female bronze medalists from the Southeast Asian Games, held a demonstration in honor of the formal opening of St. Michael’s Sports Academy. The guests who filled the spacious gym watched in rapt silence as they saw our world-class athletes demonstrate the traditional warrior’s dance, the way kru, before their bouts. On the other hand, the Sports association’s officials were impressed with the airy layout and well-planned facilities, which include a massage area, showers, and a coffee shop.

“Now, we have a nice gym here in Los Baños,” says Muaythai Association of the Philippines (MAP) president Roberto Valdez.

“Muay thai is now in five major cities in Laguna. We’ve already accredited their instructors, so it won’t be long before they can start joining national competitions.”

Eusebio has already convinced many of the city’s doctors to join muay thai classes at St. Michael’s. They have started to reap the benefits of being more alert, healthier, and being able to defend themselves.

Even at a young age, the citizens of Los Baños can now learn to protect themselves and develop the values a traditional sport like muay thai can give them. Sometimes, people have to take their safety into their own hands.

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Congratulations to the winners of the Subaru Impreza Challenge held at the Greenhills Shopping Center. Winning contestants were able to keep a hand on a new Subaru Impreza for almost 48 hours straight, and have earned the right to challenge for the international record in Singapore, and the chance to win the car itself.