Alay Para Atleta Mobile Donation Campaign for Filipino Para Athletes Launched

Following the successful campaign of Philippine para-athletes in the recently concluded 9th ASEAN Para Games in Malaysia in September, the Philippine Paralympic Committee/Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (PPC-PHILSPADA) is pushing the envelope further to support local para athletes in upcoming international competitions.

PPC PHILSPADA launched today a mobile donation service called “Alay PARA Atleta”, a simple and easy way for Filipino citizens to participate in the Philippine Paralympic movement using their mobile phones. The group has tied up with Rising Tide Mobile Entertainment Inc., a mobile content and service company, to launch APA on both Globe and Smart so Filipinos everywhere can help enable our para-athletes to move forward. Under the campaign, citizens can donate amounts starting at P10 up to P500 simply by texting the amount to access code 3456 on their cellphones.

According to PPC-PHILSPADA president Michael Barredo, the mobile donation campaign is part of an integrated marketing plan that aims to propagate the national paralympic movement through various events and activities that will increase public awareness and support for our athletes with disability.

On September 1, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) partnered with the PPC-PHILSPADA so UAAP students and schools can join the Paralympic movement and support Philippine para-athletes using the mobile facility, a communication and payment mode that is most appealing to millennials. UAAP students and athletes are looking to volunteer as support staff and crew in the next ASEAN Para Games in 2019 that will be hosted by the Philippines.

The country won a total of 69 medals (20 gold, 20 silver and 29 bronze) in the last Para SEA Games held September 17 to 23 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Formerly ranked 7th in the overall standing, the Philippines moved two notches higher to 5th place in the ASEAN region. PPC PHILSPADA sees this as the perfect jump board for bigger achievements for Filipino para athletes.

The biggest surprise in the recent KL stint were the fresh para athletes who bagged medals in their very first international competition. These rising stars are products of Palarong Pambansa and includes 16-year old Ma. Cielo Honasan who bagged 3 golds in Athletics, Gary Bejino, 21, 1 gold and 3 bronze in swimming and Claire Calizo, 18, a silver and a bronze in swimming.

“Our showing in KL validated our long range plan: to implement a grassroots development program that will help discover new talents and harness our existing ones in order to create a bigger pool of para athletes that will be ready to compete in the next 2018 Indonesia Asian Para Games, the ASEAN Para Games in Manila in 2019, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and other international para sport competitions,” Barredo said.

“The Alay PARA Atleta Program is our response to the colorful performance of our para athletes in the recent Para Games. Funds raised through this program will help provide our para athletes with equipment and basic needs that will support them in their quest to transcend their personal barriers to achieve excellence and excite the world. Above all, it will inspire them to know that the whole country is behind them in their dream to excel and bring honor to the country,” he continued.

Barredo further emphasized that “whatever resources we are able to generate will help strengthen PPC’s organizational capacity to enable our national sports associations (NSAs) to implement our grassroots development program. This is in alignment with the mandate of our Philippine Sports Commission Chairman, Butch Ramirez.”

Some Filipino para athletes who have consistently brought home honor for the country are powerlifter Adeline Dumapong (Polio Wheelchair), gold medalist in the 2017, 2015, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005 and 2003 ASEAN Para Games and bronze in the 2000 Sydney Paralympics; table tennis ace Josephine Medina (Polio Standing), gold medalist in the ASEAN Para Games 2015, 2013, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005 and 2003; swimmer Ernie Gawilan (Congenital Deformity), gold medalist in the 2017, 2015, 2013, 2011 and 2009; track star Jerrold Pete Mangliwan (Polio Wheelchair), gold medalist in the 2015 ASEAN Para games; Joel Balatucan of field athletics (Polio Wheelchair), gold medalist in the 2015, 2013, 2011 and 2009 ASEAN Para Games; and Julius Jun Obrero (Polio Standing), gold medalist and Wheelchair Dance Sport IPC World Champion.

First PH Paralympics Summit to Rally Support for PARA Athletes

Alay PARA Atleta Program launched; preparations underway for ASEAN PARA Games,

Asian Para Games and Paralympic Games

Quezon City, Philippines － The Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) and the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (PHILSPADA) will hold the first Philippine Para Sports Summit that will focus on the Parlympic movement in the country on June 9, 2017 at the Microtel, Technohub in Quezon City.

PPC, the National Paralympic Committee of the Philippines and PHILSPADA are the organizations spearheading the activities and operational requirements of elite athletes with a disability (orthopedic disability, cerebral palsy, visual impairment and mental disabilities).

With the theme “Transcending Barriers Through Sports”, the one-day gathering of sports officials, athletes, coaches and trainers, sports doctors, marketing experts and policy makers who are the key players in the industry will look into the state of Paralympic Sports in the Philippines to identify local and international goals to enable Filipino para athletes to achieve sporting excellence to excite and inspire the world.

Another goal of the convention is to find ways to develop para sports as a tool for changing the lives of Filipinos with disabilities while contributing to the development of an inclusive society.  One hundred participants are expected to attend from various sports organizations including national sports associations, non-government organizations, private corporations and the government sector.

The past decade saw the rise of Filipino Para athletes in the global arena such as Josephine Medina, the para table tennis player who gave the country its second Paralympics Bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, sixteen years after powerlifter, Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta, got the first ever Bronze medal in the Sydney Paralympic Games in year 2000 and Ernie Gawilan, the legless swimming sensation discovered from Davao City, who is a consistent Gold medalist in the ASEAN Para Games ever since becoming a member of the national team. There has also been an increase in number of para athletes and their participation in local, regional and international competitions. Support and recognition from government and private partners, have also improved over the years.

The summit hopes to provide PPC-PHILSPADA with additional muscle and momentum as it strengthens itself to capably enact its comprehensive Mid-Term National Para Sports Development Program. The program will open up more opportunities for para-athletes from grassroots to the elite level of competitions.

With sights set on the 9th ASEAN Para Games in Malaysia this September 2017, the Asian Para Games in Indonesia in 2018, the 10th ASEAN Para Games in Manila and the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020, the para sports summit envisions key partnerships with government and private sector to further inspire and equip para-athletes who are only too eager to compete and do their part for the country’s glory.

Key speakers in the summit are: Chairman William I. Ramirez of the Philippine Sports Commission; Mr. Peping Cojuangco, President of the Philippine Olympic Committee; Michael Barredo, President of PPC-PHILSPADA; noted sports medicine expert Dr. Raul Canlas; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation expert, Dr. Raul Cembrano; Sec. General and former Olympic swimmer Gerardo “Ral” Rosario; para-coaches Joel Deriada of Athletics and Vernon Perea of Wheelchair Basketball; as well as para-athletes Gawilan, Medina and Dumapong-Ancheta.

An interesting sidelight of the event will be a Wheelchair Dance Sport exhibition while the high point of the summit will be the launch of the “Alay Para Atleta” program, a nationwide campaign that will enable the general public to participate in the Paralympic Movement via a P50 annual contribution through mobile phone access.

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ABOUT PPC-PHILSPADA:

The Philippine Paralympic Committee of the Philippines is the National Paralympic Committee of the Philippines recognized by the International Paralympic Committee while the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (PHILSPADA) is the PSC recognized national sports association for physically impaired athletes, tasked to spearhead developing sport competency for Filipino persons with disabilities from grassroots to the highest level of  sports competition.