2015 Philippine National Open-Invitational Athletics Championships

After a five-year absence, the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) is coming back with the staging of its centerpiece sporting event this year, to be hosted by the Laguna Provincial Government at the San Luis Sports Complex in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

The Philippine National Open-Invitational Athletics Championships (PNOIAC) is an annual track and field competition which will be held in four (4) consecutive days from March 19 to 22, 2015. Following the international competition standards, about 1,500 local track and field athletes will be pitted against the best of the best across the archipelago, and as well as against the invited 150 international Class A athletes from twelve (12) neighboring Asian Countries.

There will be 32 track and field events where participants will show their athletic prowess on a winner-takes-all system (meaning there will be no distinction between local and international athletes). The invited Southeast Asian countries will provide tough opposition coming from China, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Hongkong, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Peninsular and Sabah teams from Malaysia. The Philippines meanwhile will be composed of contingents averaging from 19 to 24 years of age on a 70:30 male/female ratio from the National team, National training pool, and Collegiate leagues like the UAAP, NCAA, and SCUAA.

This event will be used as one of the tryouts for the coveted slots of the Philippine team for the upcoming 28th South East Asian Games (SEAG) in Singapore on June 5 to 16, 2015.

L-R: Philippine National team representatives Patrick Unso (110-m hurdle), Dr. Philip Ella Juico (PATAFA President), EJ Obiena (Pole Vault), and Edward Kho (Event Manager) during the Media launch of the Philippine National Open

The Passing of Baton of Leadership in PATAFA

2015 is a new dawn for the new leadership of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association. The baton of leadership has been passed.

Track and Field has produced a lot of sports heroes in the likes of Lydia De Vega, Elma Muros-Posadas, Isidro del Prado, Marestella Torres and so many others. In 2002 Mr. Go Teng Kok formed his GTK Army that reaped honors from international competitions and won the most number of gold medals in the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games and proclaimed as the “Winningest Sports Association”. This was again duplicated in 2009 when PATAFA was bestowed the honor as the “National Sports Association of the Year” by the Philippine Sportswriters Association. Indeed, the feat of GTK Army is worth emulating and this is a big challenge for the years to come.

The baton has been passed. It is now in the hands of Dr. Philip Ella Juico. Dr. Juico is no pushover in sports. He was the chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission from 1995 up to 1998. He served also as the chairman of Super Liga from 2013 to 2014. He is the Executive Vice President for the Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines (ICFP) from 1991 up to the present. At present, he is the Director National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) since 2012. He has a weekly sports column for the Philippine Star since 2000. He also writes occasionally for the Business World (View from Taft) and the Business Mirror (Mirror Image). He has a weekly radio program (Sports, Balita at Kalusugan) over the AM station of El Shaddai, DWXI..

Dr. Philip Ella Juico has accumulated decades of experience at the most senior levels in government, business/industry organizations, in the academe, and in several NGOs. His strengths are in visioning and strategy formulation, starting up new business organizations, recruiting and developing managerial talent, setting up performance standards and measurement, and negotiations related to joint ventures and other forms of partnerships and marketing/public relations. These strengths were developed during a career that has spanned more than 40 years and several business cycles.

With Dr. Juico at the helm of PATAFA, his initial program is to bring back the Philippine National Open-Invitational Athletics Championships at its lofty place as the prime project of PATAFA. With the province of Laguna under Governor Ramil L. Hernandez as the co-host, this annual event will be held at San Luis Sports Complex in Sta. Cruz, Laguna on March 19-22, 2015.

To invigorate the association, Dr. Juico is inviting several stakeholders in Athletics such as the UAAP, NCAA and the SCUAA and active Athletics Club like TMS Ship and the National Masters and Seniors Athletics Association of the Philippines (NMSAAP) to increase the numbers of Board Members thus having a wider membership and broader minds to work on the plans and programs of PATAFA.

Several ideas are still in the offing. Expect a more vibrant and dynamic PATAFA.

Supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Sponsored by various Companies and Media partners.