The Filipino Friends Blog

49 Filipinos finish grueling New York Marathon

WOW, this is quite interesting – I always wanted to do some kind of marathon, but just never did – and I find that there were 49 filipinos did do it at the New York marathon run!  I always said that am going to get ready for the annual Bridge Run that happens here in Charleston, but every year comes and goes, and I have not done it yet!  I guess I really just go do it and say that I’ve done it…so for the following year, I am going to try to do the run in 2011 – this gives me this year and the next for training and maybe get back into shape – just have to do it…it also means, I need to get a good pair of running shoes and that means $$$…*sighs*  But here’s the story of those brave 49 that did the marathon… Thanks goes to Good News Pilipinas for the story.

Forty-Nine gutsy runners from the Philippines and 25 Filipino-Americans in the United States made their presence felt in the world-famous New York City Marathon, which drew close to 44,000 runners from all over the globe.

While the top honors went to American Meb Keflezighi (men’s) and Ethiopian Derartu Tulu (women’s), Filipinos also proved their mettle, most of them finishing the grueling 42.195-kilometer foot race that started at Staten Island, passed through the five boroughs of New York and ended at Central Park.

From the scores of Filipino running enthusiasts, three prominent scions of business tycoons easily drew interest, as they proved equal to the daunting task of finishing the race.

Harry Tan Jr., nephew of billionaire Lucio Tan, in fact, finished with an impressive clocking of three hours, 51 minutes and 40 seconds, while Cebu Pacific chief executive Lance Gokongwei completed the race in 5:11:40. Lance’s cousin, Johnson Robert Go, clocked 4:23:03.

Of course, their times were an eternity removed from the 2:09:15 of Keflezighi, who won a historic victory for the Americans after recovering from an injury he once feared might end his career.

The 34-year-old Keflezighi became the first American man since 1982 to win the NYC Marathon, the latest twist in the story of a family that fled war to thrive in a new home.

“It can’t get any better,” Keflezighi said.

Tulu was the women’s winner, capping a stunning comeback of her own on a day when a record field of nearly 44,000 started the 40th edition of this race. Two-time defending champion Paula Radcliffe fell back to fourth, hobbled by tendinitis behind her left knee.

Keflezighi won silver at the 2004 Olympics, the first American man to medal since 1976. Sunday’s race proved how much depth the US now boasts: With the event doubling as the national championship, six Americans finished in the top 10 for the first time since ’79.

Tulu’s breakthrough victory came 17 years ago at the Barcelona Olympics, when she won the 10,000 meters to become the first black African woman to capture a gold medal. She took gold again in 2000, then won her only previous major marathon title in London the following year.

Viewing the Philippines in a Different Light

I love reading about Philippines from someone else’s point of view.  This article comes from Scott Allford.   He writes from an outsider point of view, that many journalist from other countries mostly write about the violence, corruption, slums, etc… but he sees it differently and he has traveled to some of the those other countries that has the same problems as Philippines – but it has never been highlighted as such.  I liked the part where he says that Malaysia has a “water park” and its a tourist attraction and in the part of the Philippines there is something similar, but its not a tourist attraction!  There are images taken from the different part of the country.  Here is the story from Scott with photos…courtesy of Scott, Ecogarden, Raymond, ididjoemama.  Thank you for sharing this with Scott and thanks to all with the photos that was used in this articles – which I have linked back to more of their photos.  Read the story…

If you live outside of the Philippines and you watch or read the news you may feel very justified in believing that the Philippines is a very dangerous country. Savaged by typhoons, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and terrorist attacks. You may also be assured in your belief that it is a poor country with images of children picking through garbage, slums, and corruption scandals broadcast in most international news reports. I am not going to deny that these things are true, however, they are not all that the country contains. Not every person in the Philippines is poor, a terrorist, or a victim of terror. In fact other countries around the world suffer from these same problems yet they do not become iconic images of those nations.

The common view of the Philippines

Makati City (Photo by Scott Allford)

A few months ago I was at a roof-top birthday party in Makati filled with socialites and expats. Whilst there I was introduced to a German ‘journalist’, and my friend asked him why the Philippines is portrayed in such a negative light in the foreign media. His response was in two parts; Firstly because in his experience he could not sell stories about the Philippines in Germany if they were not about poverty violence, or corruption. Secondly, he said that because there is so much poverty, violence, and corruption there is nothing else to report on. After saying this he sipped his glass of red wine and was whisked away into a group of Filipino socialites.

Perhaps the red wine was ‘poor’ in taste, or the fact that that particular roof-top was one of the few in Makati which doesn’t have a swimming pool made him focus on the poverty in the Philippines, or maybe the sounds of merrymaking were ‘violent’ on his ears. I think that it was none of these things. Germany, a developed country, has slums. But if the focus can be moved away from the poverty in the developed countries and put on some islands way out in the Pacific Ocean, then people in developed countries can feel a little bit better.

Banaue Rice Terraces (Photo by Ecogarden)

I remember growing up in Australia, taking garbage out to the dump after cleaning up the garden. I would see Aboriginals picking through the garbage for food. Yet that has never been an iconic image of Australia. I went to ‘water villages’ in Malaysia and Brunei and thought how  similar they look to slums in Manila. Yet ‘water villages’ are touristattractions and the slums here are not. I lived in South Korea a few hundred kilometres away from the DMZ, with jets and helicopters flying overhead all the time it felt like a war zone. In the spring I would have 40 tanks facing in the direction of my apartment. Yet South Korea is generally not viewed or branded as a dangerous country. And South Korea has slums too. Perhaps the time will come when people outside the Philippines will come to realise that the branded image of the Philippines portrayed in the media is only a small piece of the full picture of this country.

A Different View

Tubbataha Reef (Photo by Raymond)

Since the Philippines was settled by people 30,000 years ago this country has blossomed into a mix of over 180 indigenous ethnic groups, over half of which also represent unique linguistic groups. This array of cultures, languages, and cultural artifacts cannot be matched by most nations of the world. From the Ilocano, Pangasinense, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, and Visayans to the Binukid, Moros, Ati, Igorot, and the T’boli, just to name a few. These cultures are rich, strong and proud and in most cases the people that make up these cultures are very friendly and welcoming to outsiders. On a trip to Sagada I was welcomed into a very warm and friendly Kankanaey family. They showed us around Sagada and told us stories of Kankanaey cultural practices. They even taught me how to wear a traditional bahag (a hand-loomed loin cloth or G-string).

Neighbouring Sagada is Ifugao, with vast rice terraces that shape the mountains of the region. The oldest rice terraces are 6,000 years old, which is 1,000 years older than the oldest pyramid in Egypt. If put end to end the rice terraces dwarf the Great Wall of China and the rice terraces were not made by using slave labor like most other ancient wonders of the world.

The Banaue Rice Terraces are a UNESCO World Heritage site. But they are not alone. The Philippines have numerous UNESCO world heritage sites including the Baroque churches of San Agustin Church in Manila, Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, and Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church in Miag-ao, Iloilo. There is also the beautiful and historic town of Vigan in Ilocos Sur. Furthermore, there are the natural UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park.

Palawan Underground River (Photo by Ididjoemama)

Lastly the Philippines consists of 7,107 beautiful islands. These islands contain remote beaches and amazing rock formations as well as other natural wonders like the Chocolate Hills in Bohol, the perfectly conical Mt. Mayon volcano or the stunning Bacuit Bay in El Nido, Palwan. But also on these islands is a range of biodiversity not seen in most other places on the planet. In Romblon, Sibuyan Island is known as the Galapagos of Asia as it contains such a diverse range of species which can be found nowhere else on the planet. If you get off these islands and dive into the cool blue-turquoise waters of the Philippines, you may also see some of the richest biodiversity in the world’s seas. The Verde Island Passage has been named as the ‘centre of the centre’ of marine biodiversity in the world. It has over 300 species of corals as well as vast numbers of fish that you will not find anywhere else.

With all that this country has to offer I am baffled as to why it has been branded in such a negative way by the International media. However, I think that more and more people are starting to discover that there is a different side to the Philippines to the one they have been bombarded with for the past few decades. Those who come to the Philippines to seek out the beauty of this country will not be disappointed. However, first time travellers to the Philippines should beware, just like me and many other foreigners, this amazing country may compel you to stay quite a bit longer than you initially planned.

(Scott M. Allford has lived and worked in Australia and South Korea and has travelled extensively throughout Asia- Mongolia, China, Tibet, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan – fell in love with the Philippines and decided to allocate at least two years to comprehensively cover the country.)

Filipino Efren Penaflorida vying for the CNN Hero of the Year Award

Please vote Efren Penaflorida – for CNN Hero of the Year!!  Read his story here Go here to vote – Click on this link to cast your vote online (you can vote more than once). He needs all of our support.  Please vote for Efren!  This guy started helping when he was young for the unfortunate – this is just an excerpt of his story….

“Efren Peñaflorida, was born and raised in the “squatter areas” of Cavite. Surrounded by gangs, drugs and poverty, Efren could have easily drifted into a life of crime or despair. Instead, this resourceful and determined young man decided to not just lift himself out of the predicament he found himself in, he decided to take along with him other young children in similar situations.

Barely sixteen years old when he started, Efren now 28, runs the Dynamic Teen Company and its “Pushcart Classrooms.” These are pushcarts loaded up with books, writing materials, chairs, tables and even a chalkboard, that are wheeled around the slums of the city so children who would otherwise never have the opportunity to get decent education—and a fair shot at life—can at least learn the basics and maybe, just maybe pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. READ MORE….

PLEASE VOTE FOR EFREN…Click on this link to cast your vote online (you can vote more than once).!!!  🙂

Photo courtesy of Philippines News