Police and military hold first sports competition

By Ronron
February 19, 2008

The Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) kicked off Tuesday the first-ever PNP-AFP Inter-Service Sports Competition in support of the sports development program of the national government.

The 12-day event was formally opened Tuesday afternoon at the PNP open ground in Camp Crame, Quezon City, with AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr., Army chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano, Navy Flag-Officer-in-Command Vice Admiral Rogelio Calunsag, PNP Directorial Staff chief Deputy Director General Emmanuel Carta, and Philippine Sports Commissioner Jose Mundo in attendance.

The PNP, Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force and Philippine Navy had their own contingent that will compete in the following events: Arnis, Basketball for Officers and Non-Officers, Badminton, Boxing, Chess, Karatedo, Lawn Tennis, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tug-of-War, Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Marathon.

PNP chief Gen. Avelino Razon, Jr., in a statement, said the event is in pursuant to Executive Order Nos. 63 and 64, issued by the Office of the President that sets up the “Sports for All” program.

“But more than promoting sports development, we hope to translate all our sports objectives into more concrete terms by way of better supportive coordination, and enhanced inter-operability among police and military units in the various theaters of operation in the field,” he said.

PO1 Lutche Metante of the PNP, a silver medalist in the 24th Southeast Asian Games held in Thailand, carried the torch and lit the Friendship Urn.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Jr. said the Army fielded 240 officers and men for the games. He said they were selected based on their skills for the sports or events.

The same criterion was applied in selecting the estimated 250-strong contingent from the PNP, said Sr. Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, its spokesman.

The Air Force and the Navy have also about the same strength as the Army and the PNP, their respective spokesmen said.

Both Torres and Bartolome assured that the participation of their personnel in the games will not affect the job of the PNP and the Army.

“The number is minimal and won’t affect Army operations. Instead, their participation would help in fostering camaraderie among other branches of the AFP and the PNP,” Torres said.

“Moreover, it provides a venue for selection players for the National pool, whose many members belong to the Army,” he added.

In his speech at the opening program, Esperon pointed out that the PNP and AFP are actually major sources of athletes for the national team who compete in various national and international sports competitions, such as the Olympics, Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games, and Palarong Pambansa.

While the tug-of-war marked the formal opening of the games, the closing on March 2 will be highlighted by the Women’s Marathon./DMS