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[av_heading heading=’Pride and prejudice at the Palaro?’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
Bobby Motus
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Saturday, April 29, 2017
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AS TEENAGERS, me and my siblings always wanted to go to Manila, be it by sea or air. There always was that lure that made us want to go there and as probinsyano uncool kids, we got awed by the tall buildings, the few existing McDo’s and Goldilocks, the Ali Mall and the Quad. Yes we did make side trips to Angeles City because of the PX stores – where imported sneakers and shirts were sold – yet I don’t recall being stuck in traffic.
We often meet Visayan-speaking people who came from different parts of the Vis-Min area and had migrated to Manila. The big city was a melting pot and still is, because opportunities are supposedly plenty. Yet, as observed, people from the provinces are perceived by a good number of Manileños as below their stature.
It has been that way before, it’s still going to be that way today and up to whenever, no matter how many Visayan-speaking occupants we send to that palace along a murky river. Manila had been the seat of power since Lapu-Lapu made kinilaw of Magellan and his Castilian herd, and it has forever stuck to the thinking of these selected royal minds that they are superior to the rest of their countrymen. Please take note that we are not generalizing here. We’re saying “a good number” and “selected”.
This brings us to the weeklong Palarong Pambansa at San Jose de Buenavista in the Province of Antique that ends today. A photo went viral on social media with notices posted on a closed door and an adjacent wall saying “Manila-based Media Only”. Ano ni man?
The National Games is confusingly governed and organized by the Department of Education for elementary and high school student-athletes from private and public schools nationwide. It is done in close coordination with the host province or city. The Games are participated by 18 administrative and autonomous regions and is naturally covered by sports media that converges at a designated media center at the end of the day for game results.
I admit that queer arrogance is not limited to some specific species and we meet these types every waking day, everywhere. It would be unfair to zero in on a particular group when they can actually mingle and pleasantly co-exist with the rest.
Sports journalism is not easy. By going thru recent threads on social media, I can confidently surmise that some of these “analysts” have never ever tried covering a sporting event. Neither can rain, storm, the blazing sun or traffic deter sports journos from doing what they do best.
Often, meals are skipped because competitions are on-going. Creature comforts are given up just to be within easy access to sources. They do interviews with boorish and haughty personalities, sometimes taking insults and abuse just to get a scoop.
Take away all the sports scribes from athletic events and we never would have known of Roger Federer’s tears and his 18 Grand slam titles, Zinedine Zidane’s World Cup head-butt, Lance Armstrong’s dope-fuelled Tour de France wins, Tiger Woods’ birdie putted into different women, the magic of Bata Reyes, Pacman’s sub-plot filled boxing, or Mon Fernandez’ legendary basketball career.
Sports journos bring the game back to the public through their creative writings, that from the bleachers to the sidelines to the playing field and even down to the locker room and players’ quarters. This dedicated but underpaid lot practically lets those who missed the action feel the game. Telling them to take this kind of discrimination as a challenge and make do with whatever is available has been done already, and more.
The issue here is to put a stop to the preferential treatment toward a few. I have heard of this thing long before I was given space in the sports pages. Exactly what do Manila scribes have that their local and regional counterparts don’t have? Why are there stories of the privileged being driven in A/C vehicles while the rest take the jeepneys, tricycles and motorcycles? Why are they taken to restos while the rest are given stale packed meals? Why are they staying in hotels when others make do on the cold, hard floors of classrooms? Is “envelope journalism” involved?
Let’s make things simple. We have questions to be answered and we’re saying this because we don’t like it. We don’t understand the treatment and it would be prudent for Antique and Department of Education to explain. It has gone too far with the posting of notices. I do hope that it won’t come to the point that Manila scribes will endure retaliation from local and provincial sportswriters in future events. It complicates matters even more and those at DepEd with PhDs and whatever Ds should know better.
It is the National Games, not Manila Games. This has to change. Let coverage be without prejudice./PN
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