Making its presence felt

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has effectively shuttered all sporting activities in the country but the sports community is finding ways to make its presence felt, stepping up and doing its share in the fight against the pandemic.

Three weeks since the government saw the need to call for an enhanced community quarantine to limit the spread of COVID-19 and declare a state of public health emergency, various sectors in the country have been chipping in to help alleviate the effects of the respiratory disease, including the land’s sportsmen and women.

Local sports body Philippine Sports Commission, for one, has been very active in the fight against COVID-19, harnessing its resources to help in its own way.

Apart from continuing in its duty of looking after the safety and welfare of the country’s national athletes, the PSC recently offered to open its Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and PhilSports Complex facilities in Manila and Pasig, respectively, to house COVID-19-hit individuals for quarantine to somehow ease congestion in different hospitals.

It also provided more than 200 mattresses for different health facilities in the country to help accommodate more patients.

Collegiate leagues University Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletic Association have also been active with member schools opening their doors and providing temporary shelter to the homeless amid the ongoing battle with COVID-19.

UAAP and NCAA athletes, too, have been doing their share in providing food packs for their respective schools’ surrounding areas.

Bounty Agro Ventures Inc., parent of Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League supporter and local 3×3 basketball proponent Chooks-to-Go, meanwhile, has been throwing aid to the country’s frontliners — medical workers, law enforcement personnel and other volunteers — by way of food packs.

And it is not only organized sporting bodies which are making things happen as individual athletes themselves have taken their own initiatives, using their celebrity and influence, to help.

Volleyball star Jia Morado, who plays for Creamline in the Premier Volleyball League, auctioned off her jerseys to raise funds in support of the frontliners.

Joining Morado in her cause are Ara Galang (F2 Logistics) and members of the Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors in the Philippine Superliga and collegiate stars Eya Laure and Imee Hernandez of the University of Santo Tomas.

Former Ateneo stars Bea De Leon and Matt and Mike Nieto have thrown assists to their respective communities of Marikina and Cainta with various relief goods that people could use.

The Philippine women’s softball team, for its part, has donated relief goods and food to our frontliners.

In the Philippine Basketball Association, Alaska coach Jeff Cariaso led a fund-raising to help cushion the effects of the COVID-19-induced community quarantine on the livelihood of game-day personnel of the league.

A number of PBA players have contributed to the gathering of funds. This is apart from what the PBA is doing to help its workers.

Some PBA players, too, have used their other passions to make a difference.

Esports enthusiasts June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel, Marc Pingris of Magnolia, Kiefer Ravena of NLEX and Japeth Aguilar of Barangay Ginebra are taking part in a tournament organized by Mineski to raise funds for the UP Medical Foundation in its push against COVID-19.

Other support from the sporting community is coming in the form of words of encouragement and support for the frontliners and the country in general through various social media platforms.

In a battle like the one currently being waged against COVID-19, any support will go a long way and to see the sporting community come on board is truly a welcome sight.

The buzz in sporting arenas and other venues is temporarily put in the back seat, and rightfully so as the bigger noise of fighting the pandemic deserves all the attention right now.

Salute to the local sporting community for what it has done to date and will still be doing. May this push be sustained. Stay strong, Philippines!

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