Starting ‘em young: Ateneo booters see action during Kadayawan Football Fest

Ateneo booters 6 & under see action during the Kadayawan Fest at the Tionko Field last Satuday, August 22.. (l-r) Reino Martin Swan, Brylle Juris Carillo, Zane Garfin, Shan Tranquillan, Balahay, Clark Catolinan and Gabby Cuevas.


The Ateneo de Davao University has become popular not only for producing academic scholars, but also for producing top-notch football players who are making a name for themselves not only in the Philippines but in Europe as well.

Just recently, the Ateneo de Davao booters came back from Europe after joining the world’s most prestigious youth football tournament, the Gothia Youth World Cup, where they represented the Makati Football Club and the Philippine Team.

This time, the Jesuit school is starting them young by fielding representatives six years and under to the Kadayawan Football Festival held at the Tionko Field Saturday, August 22, 2009.

“The regular players are usually 14 and under, 12 and under and 8 and under but we are encouraging young players in the 6 and under category to participate in the sports development to prepare them early for the sports,’ Ateneo de Davao University Grade School Coach Nonoy Garfin said. Coach Lance Borromeo supervises the coaching of the 6 & under players.

He said keeping the children in the fields and into sports is one way of making sure they grow up to be A
disciplined individuals and productive members of society. At the Ateneo, he added, even Pre-schoolers and Grade 1 students who are interested in the sports undergo regular football training as part of their overall development.

The Ateneo 6 and under football players were composed of three teams namely the Footballers, Kickers and Fighters. The Ateneo 6 and under players competed with 6 and under football player from other schools like Southpoint and Sakya.

Davao Artica Dome As Crematorium?

City Administrator Wendell Avisado's comments on transforming the White Elephant Davao City Artica Sports Dome into a crematorium may have been made in jest but the idea stuck!

Councilor Nilo Abellera, the proponent of the creation of a crematorium for the city, said he has no objection whatsoever if the crematorium which he has proposed as early as 2004 will be located at the Artica Sports Dome.

"The idea of converting the Artica Sports Dome into a crematorium did not come from me but I heard it is from City Hall," he said. However, he added, if this is true then he does not see anything wrong with it as the city is in dire need of more space for the dead.

Abellera said the city has almost fully paid the loan for the Artica Dome and it is really a waste of money if nothing will be done to make it useful. People are however skeptical about converting the Sports Dome into a crematorium since the safety of the structure as well as its location is still under question.

Taxing Text Messages For White Elephant Projects Like The Artica Sports Dome?

People from foreign countries use their mobile phones to call each other even for non important reasons. Filipinos however text each other endlessly, making the country the world's texting capital with over 1.39 billion sent by only 50 million SMS subscribers. This makes the proposed text messaging tax unpalatable even to Davao City councilors.

Councilor Rachel Zozobrado is against the proposal saying it is an unreasonable and additional burden to the Filipinos. The same sentiment was raised by councilor Pilar Braga. Councilor Peter Laviña is however against the proposal not only because of the government's promise not to impose new taxes but because the government should tax the rich people and big corporation.

With the proposed P0.50 tax per text message, the government is expected to raise P36 billion in specific excise taxes plus P41 billion in VAT collections---all to be used for projects including the Artica Sports Dome in Langub (worth billions but never benefited the Dabawenyos) which according to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is a "monument of corruption."

Considering this, a person who normally sends out 10 messages a day will pay an additional P5 tax-wise. How many text messages do you send per day? You might just be a future investors in another one of the government's white elephant projects when that tax proposal is approved.