Like a lot of many people, I also do not like being quarantined for a number of reasons.
Don’t get me wrong. I do understand and accept the necessity for it.
It’s just that ‘I do not like it’.
First and foremost, it has disrupted my way of life. Now, I cannot accept work nor can I continue providing services to some friends to their businesses and as a result, whatever little I get for my services, has practically dried up, forcing me to live on my hard earned savings.
Second is the fact that I cannot go out of town whether for official or for pleasure like visiting my daughter in Nueva Ecija.
In fact, my annual school supplies donation program for indigent kids at Mt. Banahaw in Dolores, Quezon, did not take place last May for the obvious reasons.
Same thing with a planned solo trip to Coron, Palawan for what was supposed to be a short break from my daily routine. I failed to make it even though I already had my plane ticket booked and hotel reservation made ahead of time.
A real bummer.
Third, as a part-time sports writer, the quarantine has resulted to a stoppage of all sports events, including the Pilipinas Superliga (PSL), the women’s volleyball league that I follow and even watch games live. And by the way, I just learned Jaja Santiago and sister Dindin, who were both playing then as imports in Japan, have managed to return to the Philippines last March.
If you would remember, I conducted a team building for Foton at Mt. Banahaw and had a chance to know more about the Santiago siblings who are among the elite athletes in PH women’s volleyball even though they missed the Southeast Asian Games last year. That, I believe, was because of sports politics and not because the sisters did not want to represent the country. But that’s water under the bridge already.
Unfortunately, as of now, nothing has been heard as to the future plans of the PSL. They can plan all they want but it’s the government’s call if they can play again or not in the near future.
I just hope that the league can still recover and resume their games the soonest possible time.
I do miss sports a lot. I miss the opportunity to sit down and interview some athletes for a feature or news story. Good thing I can still do a column here at Bandera online.
But then I also have very special reasons why I really do not like to be quarantined.
It prevented me from personally paying my last respects to a couple of people who recently passed away.
First on the list is my friend, colleague, and former editor Gianna Maniego.
I met her way back in the early 1980’s in the sports beat, the PBA in particular. I was with Sports Weekly Magazine back then and she was with Champ Magazine. Eventually, she left the sports scene and went to lifestyle and our paths crossed again at Manila Standard where she was the lifestyle editor.
Gianna gave me a regular opportunity to go beyond sports and gave me writing assignments on travel and lifestyle that brought me to far places like Singapore and Malaysia.
I even wrote for her when she transferred for a short time at Manila Times until her eventual retirement. When she died, she was practically retired from writing and living with her daughter. And I did not make it to the wake.
The other person who just passed away was a legit Philippine sports figure, Nic Jorge, who is also a former UAAP, PBA and national coach.
According to his wife Marlyn, Nic got his wish of dying with no lingering pain as he did not wake from his sleep Saturday night.
Nic, the founder of Basketball Efficiency Scientific Center or BEST, was more known for this famous basketball clinic.
This is Nic’s true legacy that he left to Philippine basketball, trailblazing a scientific way of training kids where a a lot of today’s basketball stars first learned the basics of the sport.
I consider Nic and Marlyn as personal friends from way back even if we do not see each other regularly as much as we would have wanted. The last time I saw Nic was at an event related to the 2019 SEA Games and we promised to meet for coffee, a date that will never take place anymore.
My personal condolences to the families of Gianna and Nic.
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