"on a shoestring"

Track & Field athletes from the Bacolod Tay Tung High School give their best performance in honor of their slain coach, Rolando Malate.

I was talking to Joebe Panhilanson Jr., a shot put player about the great performance his teammates are showing in track. He said that they are doing this as a “tribute to our coach.” I was curious so I dug deeper. I further learned that their long-time coach, a policeman PO3 Rolando Malate was shot dead in broad daylight (7:00am) as he is about to get off from his car near Tay Tung Highschool. According to the police records he had “four gunshot wounds on his chest, two on his neck and one on his right ear and died while being treated at the Bacolod Adventist Hospital.” You can read about the killing at Negros Daily Bulletin & PhilStar.

This happened 10 days before the Batang Pinoy Games Finals in Naga. Imagine the loss that these athletes are going thru before and during the competition. They are depressed for the past days and lacks sleep as they went to the wake of their beloved coach. But in spite the lost they still went to Naga to compete- to give their best shot.

#311, Joebe of Tay Tung Highschool Bacolod

Joebe said, “Ginagawa ko ito para sa coach namin dahil kami ang last (team) na iniwan nya para sa mga susunod na henerasyon. Kami ang legacy nya…” (I did my best for our coach because we are the last group that he trained. We are the ones who are left to help the next generation).

Mr. Victor Go, the chairman of Tay Tung Sports Dev’t Program shared to me that the incident made the kids stronger emotionally and mentally. Even while depressed, they still continue to practice and their dedication was upped. They wanted to attain Coch Lando’s vision. Mr. Go has brought with him 11 athletes from the said school with the partnership between the schoola nd the citygovernment of Bacolod.

Shayra Hernandez was recalling his coach’s words when she said that Coach Lando was the best coach they ever had and that the most important lesson he taught them was self-discipline. Shayra won gold medal for the 4 x 100m relay together with Mary Anthony Diesto, Raye Ferrer and Rocel Pahilanga.

Also winning gold medals are Rolando Malate Jr. (the son of the late Rolando Malate), Miguel Alexander Guevarra, Daniel Lo and Clyde Lim in the boys’ 4 x 400m and silver in 4 x 100 relay. Hannah Malate was able to win 1st runner up (silver) in girls’ walk event.

Tay Tung High School together with other Bacolod City athletes has brought with them a total of 16 gold, 6 silver and 10 bronze medals. These are all tributes to their slain coach.

And they still cry out, “Long Live Coach Lando! May you rest in peace.”

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Batang Pinoy Games 2011  is a grass-roots development program organized by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to identify young talents to be trained for the national pool of athletes.

“Our goal is to use the event to identify talents for the World Youth Olympics in 2014. This would also give the out-of-school youths the avenue to display their talents in a nationwide tournament.”– Commissioner Joaquin “Chito” Loyzaga

Batang Pinoy seeks to instill the values of discipline, teamwork, camaraderie, unity, solidarity, competitiveness and fair play through a comprehensive sports development program for in-school and out-of-school children 15 years old and below.

Official website: Batang Pinoy 2011

Facebook Page: Batang Pinoy (PSC Grassroots Program)