Hindi dahil Azkal, pwedeng mambastos

Cristy Ramos

Mabuti naman at hindi pinalampas ni Cristy Ramos ang pambabastos ng dalawang miyembro ng Azkals sa kanya.

Kahit na ba magaling sila mag-football at malaki ang nagawa ng Azkals para buhayin ang laro sa bansa, hindi yun lisensya para magiging bastos sila sa kababaihan.

Si Cristy ay anak ni dating Pangulong Fidel Ramos at dati ring pangulo ng Philippine Olympic Committee. Opisyal siya ngayon ng Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) na siyang namamahala ng football sa buong mundo.

Sa kanyang reklamo na isinampa sa Asian Football Confederation, ikinuwento ni Ramos na siya ang napiling Match Commissioner sa laro ng Philippines (Azkals) at Malaysia noong Pebrero 29 sa Rizal Memorial Footbal Stadium.

Bilang Match Commissioner, trabaho ni Ramos ang i-inspeksyunin ang lahat na gamit at suot ng mga players. Sa kanilang miting, isang araw bago ang laro, sinabi ni Ramos na dahil siya ay babae sa isang laro na puro lalaki ang players, sasamahan siya ng isa pang opisyal na lalaki.

Sinabi rin niya na bibigyan niya ang mga players ng oras ar pasabi bago siya papasok sa kanilang changing room.

Eksakto daw 5:45 ng hapon noong Miyekules, kasama ang dalawang lalaking opisyal ng FIFA, kumatok siya sa changing room ng Azkals. Pinaliwanag niya sa mga players ang kanyang gagawin.

Lexton Moy

Inisa-isa nyang tinawag ang mga player. Nang tinawag niya si Lexton Moy (No. 25), tumayo daw sa tabi niya at malakas na sinabi sa mga kasamahan , “Must be a B cup.” Nagtawanan daw ang mga player.

Sabi ni Cristy, siya lang naman ang babae sa kwarto kaya sa isip niya ang kanyang bust ang tinutukoy ni Moy.

Si Moy, 27 taong gulang, ay Chinese at nag-aral sa America.

Angel Guirado

Nang dumating na siya kay Angel Guirado (no. 12), naka-brief lang daw ang Español na player at hindi man lang nagsuot ng shorts o nagtakip. Tumatawa daw ang ibang players habang ini-inspekyun ni Ramos si Guirado.

Habang nangyayari daw ito, hindi man lamang sinaway ni James Younghusband, ang team captain ng Azakals, ang mga kasamahan. Wala raw ang kanilang coach na si Hans Michael Weiss at Dan Palami sa changing room nang oras ng inspeksyun.

Sabi ni Ramos umaabot na sa 200 na laro na siyang naging Match commissioner at ngayon lang nangyari sa kanya ang ganung pambabastos. “ Masakit sa akin dahil sa Philippine team pa nangyari,” sabi niya.

Dapat nga mabigyan ng leksyun ang bastos na player.Sayang lang ang suporta ng madlang Pilipino kung bastos sila.

Sulat ni Cristy sa Asian Football Federation

ATTN: AFC DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE (Mr LIM KIA TONG, Chairman)

RE: SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINT AGAINST PHILIPPINE MEN’S TEAM PLAYERS LEXTON MOY AND ANGEL GUIRADO (PHILIPPINES VS MALAYSIA, 29 FEB 2012, MANILA, PHILIPPINES)

Dear Mr Lim:

This to file a formal complaint against Messrs LEXTON MOY (no. 25) and ANGEL GUIRADO (no. 12) of the Philippine men’s national football team, for SEXUAL HARASSMENT during the team check for the friendly match between the Philippines and Malaysia (both “A” teams) on 29 February 2012, 1900H, at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, Manila, Philippines.

During the Team Managers’ Meeting on 28 February 2012 at the Discovery Suites in Pasig City, Philippines, I mentioned to the representatives of both the Philippine team and the Malaysian team that I would be serving as the Match Commissioner for their match. As stated in the AFC’s regulations and Official Countdown, the Match Commissioner together with the Fourth Official check the teams before the match to verify their identification (accreditation) cards and ensure that their kits are in proper order. However, being a woman Match Commissioner doing a men’s match, I had to explain that I would give the teams sufficient warning and preparation time before I would come inside their changing rooms to do the team check together with the Fourth Official, Mr Wilfredo Bermejo.

Whenever I serve as the Match Commissioner, I always follow a standard procedure for the team check regardless of the type of match. At the time of the check I initially knock loudly at the door of the changing room as a sign of courtesy and warning to the team, and then let the Fourth Official first enter the changing room to check if the players are ready before I finally enter the room. Before doing the check itself, I properly introduce myself as the Match Commissioner and also introduce the Fourth Official. I also explain the procedure of how the check will be done. I always tell the players that I will be checking their accreditation cards first then their jerseys, and that the Fourth Official will thereafter check the rest of their kits and other items, e.g., jewellery, hair accessories, fingernails etc. I also tell them the sequence of the check, i.e., I check the starting 11 players first then proceed with the substitutes.

At the appointed time (1745H) on match day, I came to the changing room of the Philippine team for the team check. I was accompanied by Fourth Official Wilfredo Bermejo and my liaison officer, Mr Joseph Gensaya. I initially knocked loudly at the door to signal my arrival. A team official opened the door and said that the team would be ready in five (5) minutes. We then waited for five minutes presuming that the team was getting ready for the team check. When we entered the changing room of the Philippine team, I properly introduced ourselves and explained the procedure for the check. In spite of the introduction the players remained rowdy and noisy, apparently not taking the team check seriously and almost ignoring our presence. As I called the players individually so that we could check their accreditation cards and kits, Philippine player LEXTON MOY (no. 25) stood by my right side and said in a loud voice “Must be a B cup,” to which the players laughed loudly. As I was the only female in the room, he was apparently referring to my bra size. He could not have been talking about men’s athletic cups, as their sizes are specified as extra-small, small, medium, large, and extra-large vis-a-vis cup sizes of women’s brassieres, which are specified in letters. Additionally when I checked Philippine player ANGEL GUIRADO (no. 12) he stood in front of me purposely just wearing his briefs and made no attempts to wear shorts or cover his underwear. Again, the players loudly laughed while I was checking this player.

While all this was happening, none of the Philippine team officials present nor the team captain, JAMES JOSEPH YOUNGHUSBAND (no. 7), made any attempts to discipline the players and tell them to behave properly. In fact they were also laughing and seemed to be enjoying the revelry at my expense. Philippine Team Manager DAN STEPHEN PALAMI and Philippine Head Coach HANS MICHAEL WEISS were both not present in the changing room at the time of the team check.

Having been a Match Commissioner for girls’, women’s, boys’ and men’s matches since 2003 at both AFC and FIFA levels, I have not experienced this crude and totally shameful behaviour from a national team anywhere before this incident. I truly regret and feel very ashamed that this disrespect comes from the national team of my country, the Philippines. This kind of sexist and demeaning behaviour has no place in football, and should therefore be sanctioned.

Sincerely,

Cristina RAMOS
Past Member, Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups (2004-2011)
Past Member, AFC Women’s Committee (2003-2010)
Past President, Philippine Olympic Committee (1996-1999)

J.CO donuts first branch in Megamall is opening soon

Doughnut lovers: mark March 15 on your calendars as the first branch of J.CO Donuts and Coffee opens in the Philippines at The Strip in SM Megamall.

J.Co donuts

We had our first taste of the donuts via home delivery and I must say I really like the variety of the flavors they offer. My favorites are green tea, choco caviar, cheese and Al Capone which is a donut sprinkled with lots of almonds. Yum! and I can’t wait to try their yogurt and coffee.

J.CO is a highly popular lifestyle café chain throughout Southeast Asia. It first opened in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2005 with the thrust to fuse the popular donuts of the West with the exotic touches of the East. The result is a breakthrough brand in the lifestyle café sector. Other countries in the Asian region soon got into the J.CO craze, including Malaysia, Singapore and, more recently, Shanghai in China.

Must-do: the Anlene bone scan

Bone scan

Something to check out one of these days: the free bone scan carried out by leading adult milk brand Anlene to guard against the debilitating disease osteoporosis which affects a great number of Filipinos.

Truth is, most of those with osteoporosis don’t realize they have it until they have a bone test. Take the case of Mary Ann Suzon who already felt pain on her left knee that ran up to her back. She found it difficult to walk at times. At 48 with four children, Mary Ann would commute to work but, lately, would ask her husband to give her a ride because of the pain. When she went to the Anlene Bone Scan activity held in a mall, she learned that she was already under the high risk category.

Mary Ann became alarmed and worried that she might not be able to go to work anymore. It was at this point that she decided to do something about her condition. She followed the advice of the attending nutritionist at the Anlene booth to watch her diet, get some exercise, and drink Anlene as a nutrition supplement.

The Anlene Bone Health Check campaign started in 1999 and has helped propagate information on osteoporosis. The caravan provides free bone scanning and assessment, and useful pointers on how to address the onset of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis occurs when the bone mass decreases quickly more than the body can replace it, leading to a net loss of bone strength. As a result, a slight bump or fall can result to fracture. It affects all bones in the body but fractures occur mostly in the spine, hips, and wrist. Broken bones bring severe pain, and both hip and spine fractures were found out to be associated with a higher risk of death – 20% of those who suffer hip fracture die within six months after the fracture.

Proper exercise, keeping a healthy lifestyle and regular intake of calcium-rich milk such as Anlene can help prevent osteoporosis. Anlene is the only milk that is clinically proven to reduce bone breakdown within four weeks.

For 2012, the bone health check campaign is aimed at scanning another 1 million Filipinos, with a total investment amounting to P50 million to roll out the campaign on osteoporosis awareness. The activities are held in various barangays and malls so that more people can have easy access to free bone scanning and assessment. The program also scans people across Asia, Australia and the Middle East. It is run in partnership with GE Healthcare, a world leader in medical imaging technology.