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The country’s drive to bag its first gold medal in the Beijing Olympics next year got a huge boost when Senators Gringo Honasan and Juan Ponce Enrile promised their all out support for the strategic master plan of the PSC led by William “Butch” Ramirez which is aimed at accomplishing the seemingly impossible goal of achieving Olympic glory for the sports loving Filipinos everywhere. The two senators joined the growing clamor for every sector to help in this great cause. The two respected, veteran, legislators promised to help secure the much needed funds necessary to fuel the onslaught for our first ever gold medals.

Five golfers from the Metro Washington D.C. area will leave for the Philippines to take part in the Men’s Division of the Filam International Amateur Golf Championships to be held in Baguio City November 22 to 30, 2007. The five are entered in the Seniors Division of one of the biggest conglomeration of Filipino and Filam golfers in the world as it fires off just before the Christmas season at the Baguio Country Club and Camp John Hay Golf Club in Baguio City The tournament is so mammoth that it has been listed in the Guinness book as the biggest amateur golf tournament in the world.

Twelve year Filam Vina Concepcion led five other youths from a modest and obscure Fort Washington martial arts school to national prominence when they won six of the nine gold medals at stake during the National AAU Junior Taekwondo championships in Fort Lauderdale, in Florida in early July this year.

The biggest FILAM sports tournament ever to be held in the Metro Washington DC area will take place on Labor Day weekend , September 1 and 2 this year when seventy five to eighty basketball teams from all over the United States and Canada will converge in the Metro DC area and battle it out for top honors in the 4th FILIPINO BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION (FBA) Championships which is going .to be staged at the Hoops Magic Center in Virginia with its seven basketball courts and in nearby Westfield High with its two courts. Some five to six thousand people including 1200 basketball players are expected to descend in our area for the two day basketball extravaganza which has local folks abuzz with keen expectations and excitement.

Congratulations to the winners of the Annual Philippine Independence Day Tennis Tournament held at the Fairfax Indoor Racquet Club on Saturday June 23, 2007 which started at 5:00, pm and ended at midnight with some thirty players seeing action. The six -man squad of Mark Borja, Jeri Noveras, Joey Tatlonghari, Eric Escueta, Eric Diy, and Paul Kayanan captured the over-all team tennis title This event was sponsored by the Philippine Festival Committee from the Philippine American Foundation for Charities and coordinated by Fil Am Tennis Organization of Northern Virginia led by Ed Tiong and Danny Francia.

Did you know that Filipinos dominated world Yo-Yo competitions during the 1930’s and 1940’s? Believe it or not, they did. One proof - several Yo-Yo boxes are being advertised and sold on Ebay showing on its cover two Filipino World Yo-yo champions. Their names are Tommy C. Reyes and Joe Radivan. Tommy Reyes, in fact, has local ties. His son Robert E. Reyes is presently working at the United States Postal Services in Washington DC. as Philatelic Program Specialist. Robert says his dad was born in Iloilo City and was a cabin boy in the merchant marine fleet and landed in San Francisco in 1931.

Despite a steady downpour organizers decided to push through with the Philippine Independence Day Parade on Sunday June 3, 2007 and the members of the APODCAA was right there to fulfill their commitment to act as Marshals for the parade and they did a splendid job, never wavering in their chores which greatly contributed to the success of the affair. It was in fact a family project as children and friends joined in and helped with the different aspects of the parade like acting as grounds stage and water marshals earlier in the day.

No sooner had the din of competition and merriment die at the conclusion of the 2006 sports fest when the echoes of what was in store for next year (2007) was being bruited about. According to organizers the bar had been raised again , but that they certainly hoped to better and improve the 2006 yardstick of success for 2007 . Plans were being formulated for a bigger and better festival the coming year. So, they were exhorting all to plan now to attend our Year 2007 "festevents". Their parting reminder: See you all next year

Carina Dayondon, Noelle Wenceslao and Janet Belarmino are three demure Filipinas who are set to blaze a trail to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. The three women are part of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition (FPMEE) and these “iron ladies” are on a mission to scale the awesome heights of the highest mountain on Earth.

As members of the First Pinay Everest Team, the three climbers will show the world they have the willpower, the guts and the agility to succeed. Aside from their backpacks and equipment, they carry the country’s hopes and dreams. And at every step of the way, they will be aided by Iberet Active - the official multivitamin supplement of the Pinay Everest Team.

Sixteen year old Mark Anthony Salita a student at the Northwest High in Germantown, Montgomery County, MD, won the National K12 Under 900 crown with a perfect 7.0 score and took home the championship trophy. Salita accomplished the feat at the 2007 USCF National High School Championships in Kansas City, Missouri last month. Northwest actually won one of five national titles for the second year in a row, with two students finishing undefeated, one of which is our very own Salita. The national chessfest broke a record with 1447 young chess competitors.

Millions of Filipinos around the world cheered to Manny Pacquiao's 8th round knockout of Jorge Solis in San Antonio , Texas in mid April. To the multitude of fans it was nothing short of sensational. A knock- out? Wow! Terrific! It was indeed an impressive win. But to some who are familiar with the finer points of the sport it was nowhere near exceptional. For one, Manny was throwing his punches in a flurry of one or two punches at a time instead of unleashing them in combinations or three or more punches like in his previous fights. In fact Freddie Roach himself who has engineered many of Manny's victories in the past said that he was not impressed at all. In a scale of 1 to 10 he gave Pacquiao a 5 which is barely a passing mark.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Top Rank promotions president Bob Arum announced the Pay-Per-View Blaze of Glory night of boxing with Manny Pacquiao as the main headliner for the event at The Alamodome in San Antonio, TX., Saturday, April 14.

Top Rank will also feature Filipino-American boxer Brian Viloria (19-1-1, 12 KOs) in the undercard going for the vacant World Boxing Council Light Flyweight Title against Mexico City's Edgar Sosa (26-5, 14 KOs).

The annual Sportsfest which is being held in conjunction with Philippine Independence Day celebrations every year during the month of June is just around the corner. How time flies. Before we know it it will be upon us. Nick Tongson sent us the following data in reply to our email inquiries. Tongson who has been chair the past few years said sports this year will be volleyball, tennis and golf.. He did not elaborate except to say that tennis will be handled again by Ed Tiong as usual. He has somebody to organize golf but has yet to confirm this. Of course everybody knows who will handle volleyball. Yup it is Lovette Rosales -Llantos who who is one of the pillars of the festival from the very start. Volleyball as everybody knows is the linchpin of the whole sports fest, drawing the largest number of players and provides the drama and excitement of the whole extravaganza .More details later on as the date draws closer.

The pall of gloom that descended on the bowling circles around Metro DC is just beginning to lift since the untimely demise of the president of the RAMPS Bowling League last October just a month after the league cancelled its 2006 edition which has run uninterrupted for 17 years.

Mrs. Letty Buan who was the president of RAMPS died unexpectedly last October 20 from pneumonia triggered by complications from a lung infection "Bigla lang" said Paul Buan. The second of Mrs. Buan's three sons . Paul is the executive director of the Association. The eldest is Ronnie while the youngest who is based in Switzerland is Erwin.

For the first time in a long while , the Fil-Am Golfers Association of Metro Washington DC did not participate in the PAL Inter Club Golf Tournament held this month in Cagayan de Oro. Rudy Concepcion who used to lead ten Metro DC golfers to the oldest golf tourney in the Philippines , (the 60th this year) had to travel to Guatemala for a business conference and at the last minute decided to cancel his participation. Al Rivera a member of the Metro DC Club took part in the tournament with a different set of golfers none of whom are from DC.