2015 is a new dawn for the new leadership of the
Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association. The baton of leadership
has been passed.
Track and Field has produced a lot of sports heroes
in the likes of Lydia De Vega, Elma Muros Posadas, Isidro del Prado, Marestella
Torres and so many others. In 2002 Mr. Go Teng Kok formed his GTK Army that
reaped honors from international competitions and won the most number of gold
medals in the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games and proclaimed as the “Winningest Sports
Association”. This was again duplicated in 2009 when PATAFA was bestowed
the honor as the “National Sports Association of the Year” by the Philippine
Sportswriters Association. Indeed, the feat of GTK Army is worth emulating and
this is a big challenge for the years to come.
The baton has been passed. It is now in the
hands of Dr. Philip Ella Juico. Dr. Juico is no pushover in sports.
He was the chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission from 1995 up to
1998. He served also as the chairman of Super Liga from 2013 to 2014. He
is the Executive Vice President for the Integrated Cycling Federation of the
Philippines (ICFP) from 1991 up to the present. At present, he is the Director National
Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) since 2012. He has a weekly sports
column for the Philippine Star since 2000. He also writes occasionally
for the Business World (View from Taft) and the Business Mirror (Mirror
Image). He has a weekly radio program (Sports, Balita at Kalusugan) over
the AM station of El Shaddai, DWXI..
Dr. Philip Ella Juico has accumulated decades of
experience at the most senior levels in government, business/industry
organizations, in the academe, and in several NGOs. His strengths are in
visioning and strategy formulation, starting up new business organizations,
recruiting and developing managerial talent, setting up performance standards
and measurement, and negotiations related to joint ventures and other forms of
partnerships and marketing/public relations. These strengths were
developed during a career that has spanned more than 40 years and several
business cycles.
With Dr. Juico at the helm of PATAFA, his initial
program is to bring back the Philippine National Open-Invitational Athletics
Championships at its lofty place as the prime project of PATAFA. With the
province of Laguna under Governor Ramil L. Hernandez as the co-host, this
annual event will be held at San Luis Sports Complex in Sta. Cruz, Laguna on
March 19 -22, 2015.
To invigorate the association, Dr. Juico is inviting
several stakeholders in Athletics such as the UAAP, NCAA and the SCUAA and
active Athletics Club like TMS Ship and the National Masters and Seniors
Athletics Association of the Philippines (NMSAAP) to increase the numbers of
Board Members thus having a wider membership and broader minds to work on the
plans and programs of PATAFA.
Several ideas are still in the offing. Expect a more
vibrant and dynamic PATAFA.
