FIRST SAY:
Michael Jordan said, "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
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Sports will be the main story in Bacolod City today, May 26, never mind the coming tropical storm called "Aghon."
Senator Francis "Tol" Tolentino, who has just been elected Senate majority floor leader, will be in Bacolod to lead the opening of his "baby"--- the Philippine Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) Games' Visayas regional qualifying leg.
This qualifying leg will be played from May 26 to June 1, 2024 in Bacolod City.
The theme of this year's competition is "Husay ng ROTC, Husay ng Kabataan" and as Senator Tol said, it will showcase the exceptional skills and dedication of our Filipino youth in serving the nation.
As the honorary chairman of the ROTC Games, Senator Tolentino (General, as a reservist), said the Games is out to underscore its significance not solely as a military training platform for cadets, but also as a channel towards fostering patriotism.
The ROTC Games started as a simple concept in the mind of the senator, but it has now grown in size and reputation all over the country.
With over 3,000 athletes from Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas expected to participate, the event promises to be a grand display of talent, discipline, and patriotism.
Student-athletes will participate in aquatic/swimming, arnis, athletics, boxing, e-sports, kickboxing, sepak takraw, taekwondo, table tennis, volleyball, basketball, target shooting, chess, and raiders competition. Additionally, there will be a search for Miss and Mister ROTC.
Meanwhile, the Mindanao qualifying leg is scheduled to take place in Zamboanga City from June 23 to 29, while the Luzon qualifying leg will be held in Indang, Cavite, from July 28 to August 3.
The national championships are slated for August 18 to 24, 2024 also in Indang, Cavite.
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My friend, Paul Gutierrez, now executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) is what you might call indefatigable. He is persistent when it comes to fighting for the rights and privileges of media workers.
Gutierrez held a meeting last week with Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia. As the elections next year are already near, these two officials along with other leaders of media recognize the risks of news coverage during elections. Need we cite the Maguindanao massacre of newsmen and other political personalities, even bystanders, a couple of years ago?
This time around, Gutierrez and Garcia have agreed to partner together in identifying and monitoring threats, harassment, physical attacks, and other forms of violence towards members of the media during the election period. They would like to classify these as "election offenses."
“I am glad that Chairman Garcia is fully supportive of the desire of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to create a safe environment for the country’s press, especially with the 2025 midterm election just around the corner,” Usec Paul Gutierrez said.
“Himself a former broadcast journalist, Chairman Garcia is keenly aware of the threats that our journalists face especially during the elections when tensions are high. I am pleased to note the good chairman’s offer to exercise the power of the Comelec to warn candidates, political parties and their supporters that any attempt to stifle the country’s press from performing its mandate during the election period would be dealt with swiftly and decisively,” he added.
PTFoMS has created a database with all incidents that occurred during the elections involving members of the media and would also craft a mechanism that is able to report. This will be used by the poll body so that they would be able to smoothly address incidents that PTFoMS will report.
Not only the politicians running in this 2025 election, but also the media covering it, should be aware of professional ethics and the observance of rules and procedures according to law.
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