CAPTION PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino (third from left) with (from left) coaches Jessica Pfister and Miguel Gutierrez,, Marc Pfister, Enrico Pfister, Christian Haller and Curling Pilipinas playing president Benjo Delarmente.
THE gold medal won in the Ninth Asian Games is priceless but nevertheless, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) went from extremely appreciative to humbly generous by rewarding each member of the successful men’s curling team with cash incentives before flying back to Switzerland on Monday.
POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino refused to let go of the team without having a pre-flight lunch at the New World Hotel in Makati City where each received $5,000 as incentive from the POC Executive Board.
“The incentive may not parallel their effort and dedication— and even the expenses they personally incurred—but it’s one small way for the POC to show its gratitude to the team,” Tolentino said.
From Harbin, the team of Marc Pfister, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister, Alen Frei, alternate and Curling Pilipinas president Benjo Delarmente and Pfister’s wife Jessica flew in to be briefly honored by the POC, which pampered the winter sports history-making team at the Knights Templar Hotel in Tagaytay City.
Before officially competing under the country’s colors as a fully-recognized member of the POC, the Swiss-based team made considerably huge investments for their campaign in international competitions ahead of the Harbin games.
“It’s no joke funding your own participation in international events specifically a blue-chip sport like curling,” Tolentino said.
As the team and the country savors the successful stint in Harbin, Tolentino said serious steps for the team—and other winter sports athletes—to qualify for next year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olymoics are now being undertaken.
“The path to Milano Cortina has become clearer, and on to our goal of a first Winter Olympics medal,” Tolentino said.
THE goal of winning a Winter Olympics medal is now solidly cast in stone following the Philippine men’s curling team’s gold medal performance at the Ninth Asian Games in Harbin on Friday morning.
“This is too good to be true,” said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino. “Shocking, that’s the least I can say.”
He added” “Now, the path is clearer toward our first medal in the Winter Olympics.”
The Filipino squad of Marc Pfister, Enrico Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller and Benjo Delarmente beat South Korea, 5-3, in men’s curling’s gold medal play on the last day Thursday of the Asian Winter Games.
They are the best-performing Southeast Asian team in the 34-nation competition with Thailand clinching one bronze through Thai-Frenchman Paul Vieuxtemps in men’s slopestyle of freestyle skiing.
Tolentino, under his watch at the POC, has already achieved a historic and unbelievable three gold medals in the Summer Games—weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo in Tokyo 2020 and gymnast Carlos Yulo with two in Paris 2024.
The Harbin winter games, Tolentino said, were meant to be the springboard for the Philippines extending its success to the Winter Olympics.
“I always believe the impossible can be achieved,” Tolentino said. “We did it in Tokyo and Paris, and it may not come in Italy next year, but I believe we’re on the right track.”
The 25th Winter Olympics are set in Milano Cortina in February 2026 and with the gold medal as well as the promising performance of the 20-athlete team in Harbin, Tolentino said he’s hopeful the country can qualify medal potentials to Italy.
Just how big was the curling gold medal in Harbin.
“It’s that big,” Tolentino said. “These games are once every four years, and it will take a while to do this again.”
In the Incheon 2014 Asian Games with Tolentino already the president of the POC, cycling BMX bet Daniel Caluag won the country’s one and only gold medal, but Filipino athletes bounced back strong in Jakarta 2018 and brought home four golds.
PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino flies to Harbin on Tuesday to lead a 20-athlete delegation that will see action in the Ninth Asian Winter Games.
“I believe our winter sport athletes can deliver, not in terms of medals, but in terms of the exposure and experience that’s needed as we also put weight on our thrust for the Winter Olympics,” said Tolentino on Monday.
The Harbin Games start with Friday’s opening ceremony at the Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Center and will close on February 14.
The 20 athletes headed for Harbin, China’s foremost winter destination, is the biggest so far for the Philippines, according to Tolentino, who also announced that snowboarder Adrian Lee Tongko suffered a knee injury while training in Hakuba in Japan and won’t be with the team anymore.
Team Philippines is composed of Francis Ceccarelli and Tallulah Proulx in slalom of Alpine skiing, Laetaz Amihan Rabe in free ski slopestyle, big air and halfpipe of snowboarding, as well as short-track speed skater Peter Groseclose, figure skating pair of Isabella Gamez and Alexander Korovin and figure skaters Paolo Borromeo, Cathryn Limketkai and Sofia Frank.
Joining them are the men’s curling team of Benjo Delarmente, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and Marc Pfister and the women’s squad of Anne Bonache, Kathleen Dubberstein, Leilani Dubberstein, Sheila Mariano and Jessica Pfister also of curling.
A total of 1,275 athletes from 34 countries are seeing action in 64 events in 11 sports—alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country, curling, figure skating, freestyle skating, ice hockey, short track speed skating, ski mountaineering, snowboarding and speed skating—in Harbin.
“We are optimistic and confident this team would get all the honing opportunities that would help them qualify for next year’s Winter Olympics,” Tolentino said. “We’ve already succeeded in winning gold medals in the Summer Olympics, and the thrust is to win medals in the Winter Olympics.”
Italy will host the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina from February 6 to 22 next year.
Ricky Lim is the chef de mission in Harbin.
Jim Apelar, president of Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation (PSSF), received the bad news on Tongko’s knee from his coach Kevin Bernier.
“Kevin [Bernier] told me the swelling did not subside, so, Kevin feels that he may only hurt himself more competing with a swollen right knee,” Apelar said. “He had a bad fall, unfortunately just few days from the competition.”
By Liza Soriano
The Chinese militia vessel that allegedly collided with a Philippine ship commissioned by the Marines for a resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea must pay for damages.
This was the statement Tuesday of Senator Francis Tolentino, chairman of the Senate Committee on Maritime and Admiralty Zone, saying Chinese militia vessels are not covered by sovereign immunity from lawsuits.
The lawmaker said that it was China itself that said that the militia vessels do not belong to their government and that they are commercial fishing vessels.
The senator insisted that the Uniaza May 2 commissioned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can sue for damages it allegedly sustained last week.
Tolentino also suggested that the collision be thoroughly investigated based on safety to life and the casualty investigation code for the filing of the corresponding case and government process.
The senator also hopes that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will take all diplomatic countermeasures such as summoning the Chinese ambassador.
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By Liza Soriano
Senator Francis Tolentino said that the country needs to implement quality Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) taking a cue from the raging Israel-Hamas war but he made it a point that it’s about patriotism and not war pandering.
Tolentino said that in the most recent hostilities in Gaza, Israel mobilized their 300,000 ROTC reservists in the war against Hamas.
“Siguro, mas ano, mas naha-highlight ‘yung need for a quality ROTC program. Kasi kung makikita mo ‘yung sa Israel 300,000 ‘yung minobilize na ROTC reservists nila,” the senator said.
However, the lawmaker emphasized that he is not war pandering, rather it is to prepare the youth for them to imbibe a deeper meaning of patriotism.
“It’s not about war. It’s about patriotism,” Tolentino said.
Following the simultaneous strikes by Hamas on October 7 that resulted in more than 1,000 fatalities, the Israeli military had claimed it called up to 300,000 reservists.
The Senate’s measure mandating the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps for students in technical-vocational and higher education institutions is currently up for discussion in the full Senate.
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Image Courtesy of: Senate of the Philippines
MANILA — Senator Francis “Tol” Tolentino asserted on Friday that China is making efforts to sidestep the coral harvesting issue in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) by suggesting that others “stop the political drama.”
“It appears they are attempting to evade the matter. Not only photographic evidence but scientifically grounded proof demonstrates that the damage inflicted upon Iroquios, Escoda, and Sabina was not solely the result of natural waves or currents, but rather human intervention,” Tolentino said during an interview with CNN’s The Source.
Senator Tol emphasized that although “everything must be substantiated,” preliminary findings indicate possible Chinese involvement.
As the chairman of the Senate Committee on Maritime and Admiralty Zones, Tolentino remarked, “There is no denying that they are the sole interested party, given that Escoda and Sabina serve as critical waypoints on the route to Ayungin Shoal.”
According to Tolentino, these areas hold strategic significance for potential gas and oil exploration.
Furthermore, Senator Tol underlined that the Philippines needs to initiate legal proceedings to seek compensation.
“China will only be held accountable if conclusive evidence is presented to the global community. This could place them in a position where they are compelled to take appropriate action,” Senator Tol concluded. (ai/mnm)
ZAMBOANGA CITY — Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Z. Duterte and Senator Francis ‘TOL’ N. Tolentino will grace the Mindanao regional games of the ongoing 2023 Philippine ROTC Games (PRG).
Tolentino, who is the honorary chairman of PRG, said the Vice President will be the event’s guest of honor and speaker during the opening of the tournament’s Mindanao leg, which will kick off from August 27 until September 2.
Tolentino stressed that the presence of the Vice President in the PRG is a big boost in raising awareness for the said tournament, considering that she’s the incumbent Education secretary and an active colonel in the military reserve force herself.
The upcoming Mindanao leg of the PRG comes a week after the successful hosting of the inaugural regional tournament in Iloilo City, which featured cadet athletes from various provinces in the Visayas in different sports such as track and field, basketball, kickboxing, boxing, arnis, and volleyball.
The senator added that the lessons learned in the tournament in Iloilo City will serve as a guide and benchmark for the organizers in the upcoming tournaments.
The Mindanao regional games will be followed by the Luzon leg, which will be held in Tagaytay City from September 17 until 23.
The cities of Manila and Pasig will host the National Capital Region leg from October 8 to 14 as well as the National Championships from October 22 to 27.
The PRG spearheaded by Tolentino aims to promote the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) by specifically encouraging the development of grassroots sports programs; training young athletes for international competitions; promoting physical education; and fostering self-discipline, teamwork and excellence.
It involves the ROTC units of the main service branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)–the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy. (ai/mnm)
THE country will field 395 athletes to the Hangzhou 19th Asian Games in September, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino announced on Friday.
“The number reached 400 but was later trimmed down after a series of deliberations by the POC and the national sports associations,” said Tolentino after the POC General Assembly at the East Ocean Seafood Restaurant.
Tolentino said the athletes will compete in 37 of the 40 sports in the ultra-modern city of Hangzhou from September 24 to October 8.
The Philippines aims to match or surpass the four gold medals won in the last edition in Jakarta and Palembang five years ago—Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo in weightlifting, Margielyn Didal in skateboarding and Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go in women’s individual and team golf.
The country also clinched two silvers and 15 bronzes.
Tolentino said Kayla Sanchez, who formerly competed for Canada, is favored to win medals in five events in swimming.
Tolentino also added Philippine Skating Union president Nikki Cheng as a deputy chef de missions to the Asian Games because she speaks fluent Chinese.
She joins chef de mission Richard Gomez and deputy Karen Caballero.
“Her expertise in communicating in the Chinese language will really help us there,” Tolentino said.
The International Jet Sports Boating Association, meanwhile, was accepted as the POC’s 55th regular voting member and the Cheerleading Association of the Philippines as the ninth associated member.
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