Third strike?

In baseball, when one incurs three strikes at bat it means you are out.

The same could well be said for the 10th ASEAN Para Games which the country is hosting and is in danger of being stricken off for a third time this year.

Originally set to take place in January, supposedly off the heels of the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games in December, the sporting event for the differently abled was pushed back to March after the Philippine Sports Commission, the agency tasked to fund the Para Games, acknowledged that it did not have enough funding to bankroll its successful staging.

It was hoped that by moving the competition to March, enough funding would be raised to get the Games going as seamlessly as possible.

Then came the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic which practically threw a monkey wrench into all sporting events not only here but globally.

With the highly contagious respiratory disease still a growing concern in the country, organizers deemed it fit to postpone the Games for a second time to October, hoping that by that time some normalcy has already been established and the effects of COVID-19 mitigated.

This week, however, reports (not in this paper) have it that the ASEAN Para Games could be scrapped altogether as the PSC is set for possible budget reduction as the government readjusts its finances in light of the ongoing battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the General Appropriations Act this year, the PSC stands to get P900 million to cover the agency’s affairs, including salaries of its employees and payment for utilities.

However, realignment of the government budget is said to be made as money is to be poured into the COVID-19 battle, with that allocated for the PSC set to be slashed considerably by as much as P700 million, leaving the agency with just P200 million to work with.

PSC officials said in such a setup the sporting body will be really hard-pressed, leaving them with no choice but to move to cancel some of their scheduled events like the Philippine National Games and Batang Pinoy, and possibly the ASEAN Para Games, which the Philippine Paralympic Committee said would need at least P450 million to be staged.

As I have said in the past, for the Para Games to be dealt such blows is really unfortunate.

Nothing is official yet as to its postponement, worse cancellation, but with the tone of the words of our sports officials such is highly likely to happen.

I am not completely privy to what is happening in the country’s preparation of the Para Games but having talked to officials of the PPC and other local sports executives as well as some para athletes much effort has been put into its successful staging.

Officials are really trying to cover all the bases despite the many challenges while the athletes are training hard to give three stars and a sun a good showing and something to be proud of.

One could just imagine the frustration and disappointment they are experiencing with all these setbacks.

But some things in life are just really beyond one’s control like the COVID-19 episode that everybody is made to experience right now.

We just have to roll with the punches no matter how stinging they are until such time we get our swing back and gain better footing.

At this point the fate of the 10th ASEAN Para Games is anybody’s guess but I encourage the paralympic community to just continue fighting and moving forward.

The current fight may be tough and seemingly insurmountable but there are still other battles to take on and mountains to conquer. Stay strong and driven.

Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld Senior reporter covering the Sports beat.