We also want it

By Alex P. Vidal 

“If you don’t try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody’s back yard.” — Jesse Owens

WHILE our athletes have not been making headlines lately in the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympic Games or 2024 Paris Olympics, some Filipino news websites and social media platforms have drawn inspiration from half Filipino athletes like the talented Filipino-Americans or Fil-Ams doing well in the quadrennial sporting event.

Some of these news websites and social media platforms, maintained by Filipino chroniclers of daily events globally, have opted to highlight the gold-winning moments of half Filipino athletes representing other countries when no glorious and dramatic explosions came out from the Team Philippines since the World Olympic Games unwrapped in France on July 26.

They even captioned the stories and photos of some of these non-Philippine representing athletes as “Filipino pride” like these extraordinary athletes won the gold medals for the Philippines.

No, they weren’t intended for us. Perhaps, we’re only salivating their scintillating performances and gold medals “would’ve been counted for the Philippines” if they didn’t represent other countries or if they played for the Team Philippines.

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Win or lose, we must be proud also of our 22 Olympians who have pure Filipino blood running in their veins. We cheer for purely Pinoy Olympic champions trained in their native Philippines and mentored by Pinoy coaches.

Nothing can beat our very own or the “originals.” Nothing can be sweeter than watching native Pinoy athletes trouncing their rivals in the Olympics and bringing home whatever medal for the Philippines.

A silver or bronze would be like gold if won gallantly by underdog Pinoy athletes over world-class competitors. It doesn’t matter anymore if it is a third or second place—as long as it is an Olympic Games medal.

Of course we must shoot for the gold. In any sports competition, there’s no substitute for gold or the championship; and our athletes must give their best; they must go down fighting even if the odds were stacked against them from the very beginning.

Whatever success—or failure—they get deserves a space in any Philippine newspaper and news websites and social media platforms since they are considered as heroes and heroines who battled against the world’s best and showcased their prowess to give us pride and honor.

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U.S. ASSISTANCE TO PHILIPPINES. For the past 60 years, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has worked with the Philippine government and local organizations to achieve shared development goals, investing more than $5 billion to support the Philippines since 1961.

The United States is among the largest bilateral donors to the Philippines. USAID invests approximately $120 million annually to promote inclusive, market-driven growth; foster strong democratic systems and economic governance; promote responsible natural resource management; and improve access to and quality of education and health services. The United States has had a Peace Corps program in the Philippines for over 50 years.

The U.S. Government strengthens communities’ ability to respond to and recover from disasters, as well as improve their capacity to withstand future calamities.

Over the last decade, disaster relief and recovery has become a vital area of assistance to the Philippines. Since 2010, USAID has provided more than $370 million in disaster relief and boosted the disaster risk reduction capacity of over 100 cities and municipalities.

This includes relief and recovery efforts after Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda devastated the country in 2013 and after Super Typhoon Rai/Odette made landfall in 2021.

As the largest humanitarian donor in the Philippines, USAID implements robust early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience programs and coordinates with the Philippine government, local communities, and non-governmental organizations to help vulnerable populations prepare for and respond to disasters.

As the largest humanitarian donor in the Philippines, USAID implements robust early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience programs and coordinates with the Philippine government, local communities, and non-governmental organizations to help vulnerable populations prepare for and respond to disasters.

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BILATERAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS. U.S. companies are among the Philippines’ largest and oldest investors, private employers, and taxpayers.  Our commercial ties have created millions of Filipino jobs.  The United States and the Philippines have a strong trade and investment relationship, with $22.6 billion in total goods trade during 2023 and an estimated $12.3 billion in trade in services in 2023.  The United States is one of the Philippines’ largest export markets and sources of foreign investment.  Key U.S. imports from the Philippines include semiconductor devices and computer peripherals, automobile parts, electric machinery, textiles and garments, wheat and animal feeds, coconut oil, and information technology/business process outsourcing services.  Key U.S. exports to the Philippines are agriculture goods, machinery, cereals, raw and semi-processed materials for the manufacture of semiconductors, electronics, and transport equipment. (To be continued) 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)