Graham Chua Lim - One-on-One with Graham Lim

China: A Work in Progress

11/24/2020

November 24, 2020

China: “A work in progress”
By: Graham C. Lim 林剛陵
Graham C. Lim (林剛陵)is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FESSAP and PISSA.

I was born at a time that China was mired in profound poverty and was still years away from becoming a progressive nation.

The winds of change have transformed since the time with the transformation of Mainlanders from rags to riches as the world soon took notice of China’s tough and audacious road to prosperity.

Hard work has been the passport to success by the Chinese people.

A bunch of dreamers who were industrious, and innovative, and continued to meet the challenges brought about by the new business methodologies.

I was born at a time when American President Richard Nixon visited China in 1974 and established diplomatic relations with the once-outcast, accepting Mainland China in the family of the United Nations as it adhered to the rules of international law.

Before long, the People’s Republic of China was accepted as one of the permanent members at the United Nations’ Security Council, joining the United States, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom among other countries.

The UN had earlier granted the Big Five countries a permanent seat in its Security Council in 1945 following the end of World War II.

I was born at a time the Middle East had started to engage China in global trade through the Silk and Road Belt initiated by China as the key to prosperity.

The program extends from Central Asia to Europe with the ancient method known as “Silk Road”. It was in 2013 that then-China President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) during the opening of the People’s Congress China.

Talking about the Chinese investments that have caught global attention, China poured in billions of dollars to make the Silk Road the map for world prosperity.

The key component of the ambitious project is the construction of the railway. Indeed, once it is completed, progress will roll continuously and provide financial stability in many countries.

I was born at a time China hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the first time held in Beijing in 2008. with great joy, the Games impacted all the Chinese from across the globe and in all walks of life elsewhere.

Many national and private conglomerates provided support through sponsorship as billions of dollars were delivered to ensure the rousing success of the Olympic Games in the name of patriotism.

It’s said that sports mirrors society. Indeed, it does.

Sports is one of the most progressive avenues to a strong and progressive country, and China lived up to the billing in playing host to various international sporting events.

Through the years, I have worked hard to align my various organizations to partner and work with China's sports federation.

When it hosted the 2011 World University Games (also known as the 21st Summer Universiade) in Shenzhen that featured more than 180 countries, China further strengthened its claim to being the world’s ultimate forum for first-class international sports competitions.

The 2011 World University Games (Summer Universiade) held in Shenzhen was under the auspices of the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The international university sports-governing body became a phenomenon after it patterned its competitions after the Olympics concept that it had adopted with the hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

This is where we come to align our organization such as the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP) for the university events and the Philippine School Sport Association (PISSA) for the secondary events with China’s sports federation.

The FESSAP has already submitted its letter of intent to participate in the 31st World University Games (31st Summer Universiade) that will be held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China from August 18 to 29, 2021. This event, held in cooperation with the Federation of University Sports of China, Sichuan Provincial Government, and Chengdu City Government, is sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).

The PISSA has also submitted its letter of intent to compete in the 18th World School Games (18th Gymnasiade) that will be held in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, China from October 16 to 23, 2021. This event is in cooperation with China School Sport Federation, Jinjiang City Government, and is recognized by the International School Sport Federation (ISF).

I am deeply grateful for some Filipino Chinese businessmen who have provided moral support to the success of our international commitments. These include corporate partnerships with businessmen-philanthropist, they are PISSA President and FESSAP Chairman Mr. Tai Lian of Bestank Corporation; FESSAP president Mr. Angel Ngu and Mr. George Hock Huy Chiu of the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCII); Federation of Filipino-Chinese Association (FFCAP) chairman Mr. Yang Hua Hong of Omni Electrical and Lighting, and Ambassador Francis Chua of the Philippine Chamber & Commerce Industries (PCCI).

The preparations have been somewhat constrained by the lingering COVID-19 pandemic that has struck more than 180 countries and produced almost 60 million positive cases and almost 1,500,000 deaths as of this writing.

Ground zero is where we are starting as many businesses have closed down and millions have lost their jobs since March 2020.

Sports competitions across the world were halted and it would seem that sports are no longer a way of life when public health security is threatened.

How to survive the pandemic has been the goal of many, How to provide food on the table is more essential that watching a sports event.

In my conclusive view of China, I was born at a time of Coronavirus pandemic that has put the world on a sudden halt.

China was the first country to be attacked by this dreaded disease but it managed to contain the virus in Wuhan province where it was discovered in December 2019.

Sadly, many countries are still in crisis with the spike in cases daily, particularly in the United States, India, Brazil, the Middle-East, and Latin-Americas, and many parts of Europe.

I was born at a time when the trade wars initiated by the United States against China have been fierce as shady American politicians looked to stop China‘s emergence as a world economic power.

The world appears on the very brink of collapse for human survival, but I agree with what the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had said during World War Two, “If you are going through hell, keep going”.

In 2021, we hope for a year of recovery with the creation of the COVID-19 vaccine said to be forthcoming.

In the fight against the Coronavirus, our voice needs to be as one if mankind is to survive this health holocaust and provide the next generation a better future. (林剛陵)

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Mulan, the movie

9/13/2020

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Mulan, the movie

It’s about loyal, Brave, true to one’s person which is hardly seen these days.

I saw the movie with great pride, a righteous till the story’s ended.

To wrap-up, the story is loyal to your family, the epic finale of Mulan. Such an amazing feeling of greatness toward China.

The adoring Yifei Liu as Mulan and her courageous father led by actor Tsi Ma who in my mind looks like China president Xi Jinping.

The cast gives us so many wonderful memories of these great Chinese actors, seeing Donnie Yen as the brave Imperial Army Commander, and with his right-hand imperial army depicted by American-Chinese actor Ron Yuan.

The highly unrecognized Jet Li as the Emperor. A young actor like Yoson An was inspiring falling in love with Mulan gives our hearts beat passionately. Jason Scott Lee whom I saw in the late ‘80 or 90’s portraying legendary kung-fu master Bruce Lee was a dreaded bandit wants to take revenge to assassinate the Emperor portrayed by Jet Li.

Some critics who discriminately envy on the success story of Mulan were more of a politicizing the bad image of Mulan, depleting China many remarkable dynasties because this movie is what makes China a great nation.❤️❤️😎🇨🇳https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6PZm8vhm6I

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FIBA Secretariat pandemic

4/27/2020

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April 27, 2020 Title:
FIBA Secretariat Pandemic

I am Graham Chua Lim, the Secretary General of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP).

Water is life, but unlike water, my life has been left barren for so long a time, sucked by a corrupt system perpetuated by the infamously greedy rich in Philippine basketball who, in conspiracy with the crooked FIBA Secretariat of old and farcical former local sports officials, were out to gain control over the sport for personal gratification.

Much worse than sealing him off from any connections to local basketball, for which I had spent time and effort to lift it in my little own way for more than two decades, they forcibly sent me to an exile where I have been physically separated from my wife and two children for the last seven years or so.

Heaven forbid, the curse that had befallen on two corrupt FIBA officials may yet come back to haunt local basketball officials if they make amends to the people that they have offended in this journey.

Face the consequence if they do not do so. For, after all, fire begets fire.

When it comes to the way of life, I have always been guarded by the following words of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius: “Do not do to others what you do not want others to do unto you.”.

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New basketball association set up by all-time Japanese greats and the FIBA Secretariat curse.

4/16/2020

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New basketball association set up by all-time Japanese greats and the FIBA Secretariat curse.
By: Graham C. Lim, member of the National Press Club since 1989.

A newly-formed Japanese pro basketball advisory association, the Japan Basketball Improvement Conference (JBIC), has been set up by legendary Japanese Olympians.

The association has been established to assist the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), the national basketball federation recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), in any way and help develop young athletes improve their skill set.

The JBIC came into the picture after FIBA suspended JBA in 2015 in a sinister attempt by then-FIBA secretary-general, the late Patrick Baumann, and FIBA treasurer Ingo Weiss to control the Japanese basketball through its marketing policies.

The two even went to the extent of putting their lackeys in a sensitive position such as the president, secretary-general and the chairman to run the JBA.

This was the same strategy employed by Baumann and his godfather Borislav Stankovic, both of whom will now have to account for their earthly sins before the Lord Almighty, in controlling other national basketball federations around the world such as the Philippines, Lebanon, Brazil, and the Russian Republic.

It wants dictatorial control of the marketing programs of the independent national basketball federations to suit their devious plans of cornering all the revenues related to the sport.

The FIBA secretariat, led by Baumann, wanted to control the Japan Basketball Association more than a year before the July 2020 Tokyo Olympics that eventually was postponed to July of next year amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

It wants to get the best marketing offer from top corporations in Japan for the Tokyo Olympics not for the betterment for the sport but rather also to suit their personal needs.

Hilariously, Baumann and his stooges designated a lady volleyball athlete to be the JBA president while appointing a football player to run the association as its secretary-general.

With the demise of Baumann, Ingo Weiss took over the FIBA marketing group to stay on course with their demonic strategy in partnership with a selected few in the FIBA family.

Top on the marketing list of the FIBA secretariat was to secure the sponsorship of Toyota. But with the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, any corporate agreement with the International Olympic Committee and Organizers of the Games has been held in abeyance.

Those plans initiated by Baumann – once a member of the International Olympic Committee – to control Japanese basketball was successful but to make sure that the JBA is run with some form of check-and-balance mechanics, legendary Japanese basketball athletes and former Olympians came forth to form the JBIC in support of the JBA and chart the future of young athletes who engage in the sport.

Through the JBIC, the all-time greats in Japan basketball have offered pieces of advice to the JBA regarding its now-stalled plans for the Japan Olympics, which originally were slated from July 24-August 9 this year.

Among them was the highly spirited Mr. Yoshida Masahiko, the former Japan national men’s head coach during the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He occupies one of the JBIC executive positions as Vice Secretary-General.

Regarding the JBIC, the Japan Times newspaper, in its February 15, 2016 issue, reported that a month before there was an informal gathering of the former Japanese basketball players and coaches from the men’s national teams that participated in the Olympics during the 1960s and 1970s.

Before long, in late January 2016, it officially registered as an incorporated association (JBIC) with over 30 members.

One of the JBIC’s biggest concerns is the JBA and Japanese basketball’s future insofar as the competitiveness and development of the sport in their home country.

“When it comes to international relations, Japan used to have ties with the United States, which supported Japanese basketball’s foundation,” said Yoshida, who serves as the JBIC’s Vice Secretary-General. “Japan’s status and its measures (for competitiveness) have degraded.”

Here’s a brief info on Coach Yoshida Masahiko.

Yoshida was connected with Tokyo’s Gyosei high school, a well-known Catholic-based and French-featured education institution.  He was a very outstanding basketball player during his prime.    So it was natural for him to move up to the Rikkyo University in Tokyo, a mission school of Anglican Church, in 1959. He continued playing for the university that was one of the collegiate basketball powerhouses in Japan. He was a household name in the collegiate basketball world because of his remarkable star-level skills.

As a result, he was recruited by the Nippon Kokan, one of the top four commercial teams in Japan following his university graduation.

On the Nippon Kokan squad, Yoshida was a key figure and a starter.

In 1967, he played for Team Japan in the FIBA World Basketball Championship (now known as the FIBA World Cup) in Uruguay. He later became an assistant coach for Team Japan during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  Coach Yoshida Masahiko then was elevated to the head coaching post during the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

As I continue to write about the once tradition-steeped Japanese basketball that was manipulated by the FIBA secretariat, Mafia-style, I am always reminded of what the demonic three stooges – Baumann, Stankovic, and Robert Elphinston – also did to the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), destroying and then illegally recognize another fledgling but a moneyed group for millions of reasons, one of which is for FIBA to secure a major sponsorship from them and laugh all the way to the bank.

The corrupt practices remain in place even with the death of Baumann and Stankovic, and unless there is another group to govern the FIBA, the extent of corruption in the organization will remain a mystery.

It’s time to rectify the malpractices if the FIBA is to repair its tarnished image and regain credibility.

For the last two decades, I have been hounded relentlessly by former government officials in my country of birth in conspiracy with one of the FIBA Secretariat’s corporate partners and current self-styled basketball leaders who don’t want me to get in their way to control the sport by hook or by crook that in the process, will expose their misdeeds before the general public.

Maybe the injustice that I have suffered through the years has somehow been answered by the Universal Karma that took the lives of Baumann and Stankovic.

May the same Universal Karma will open the eyes of the current FIBA leaders before it’s too late. Otherwise, the same curse that befell the old guards may come and haunt them if they don’t shape up and mend their corrupt ways. Cleansing the organization of the scalawags is the only option remaining.

The curse will likely also befall on the leadership of the current national basketball federation in the Philippines if it continues with its corrupt and dictatorial practices.

The injustice it had done to the tradition-steeped Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), discarding its FIBA recognition of more than eight decades in favor of a fledgling but money group without any proper legal procedures, and in total disregard of the 2007 Bangkok Agreement,
in sinister collusion with Baumann and the old FIBA secretariat and even up to this time with the new regime.

If justice cannot be served here on earth then expect the long hands of the Universal Karma law to catch up with these usurpers in the days ahead.

As for me, I am grateful to have met the JBIC Executive Board members in November 2019. Making up the JBIC Executive Board are all-time Asian basketball great Masatomo Taniguchi (Olympians in 1972 Munich) as the JBIC Chairman; Kunihiko Nakamura (Olympian in 1965 Tokyo Games) as the JBIC Secretary-General; Masao Tachibana (former JBA Board member); Takao Imai (former JBA Board and FIBA referee); Shinji Ichikawa (former national player); Kiyohide Kuwata and Kazuko Oono (both Olympians from the 1976 Montreal Games); Hayato Kusakai (former Japan league official); JBIC Vice-Chair’s Masami Kase (former JBA Board member) and Shigeru Harada (former Japan women national head coach).
Taniguchi, however, quit as JBIC Chairman last month (March 2020) due to serious health issues.  He was replaced by  Kiyohide Kuwata, a former Olympian during the 1976 Montreal Games, effective April (this month).
Moreover, Kunihiko Nakamura and Mr. Masahiko Yoshida also resigned due to health concerns and were replaced by Shinji Ichikawa, a former Japanese national athlete.

The JBIC Supreme Advisors include Toshiichiroc Abe (former JBA Board member), Kuninaka Taketomi (former JBA Executive Director), and Syouji Kamata (1960 Rome Olympics player).

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The Tale of two powers: Manduro & guaido

8/12/2019

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Venezuela President Manduro

The Hand that Justifies the Means: “The tale of TWO powers”: Nicolas Maduro swearing-in as Venezuela President with his hands show strong solidarity and control of the nation;

Why? Maduro hands as you can see is tight-finger close together.

While Juan Guaido swearing-in as Venezuela President with his hands show lack of solidarity from his electorates;

Why? Guaido's hands as you can see is distance-fingers separately.

President Nicolas Manduro

Opposition leader's Guaido

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Graham, the invisible action man

1/27/2018

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E-mail: [email protected]

January 27, 2018 Saturday, Cebu City
Title: Graham, the Invisible action man
By: GABRIEL G. MALAGAR

Graham Lim, the secretary-general of the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP) is putting more action than words in helping to improve the sports in the country, particularly here in Cebu.

Like a wind that you can feel it's there but you cannot see, you can sense Graham's presence when you noticed school or universities from Cebu city are participating in international competitions. The latest school to go out of the country in Cebu for international competitions is University of San Jose Recoletos last week of October to November 5, 2017.

It was due to Lim's backing that the USJR Jaguars were able to participate in the Xiamen College Basketball Tournament held in Xiamen, China where they finished at third place.

Bannered by veteran Coach Jun Noel and headed by USJR Athletic Director Father Nestor C. Raras, OAR who was very grateful to Lim saying it was the first time the Jaguars went out to participate in a collegiate-based international competition giving them a great experience.

Lim was the one who arranged the Jaguars' wonderful journey and they are just among the Cebu universities to have visited abroad due to Lim.

Literally, Lim is the invisible man but even without his physical presence, he manages to persuade the USJR Jaguars to join an international event without meeting all these guys in person, from the players, the coaching staff and Fr. Raras.

According to Father Raras, it was just a sense of trust upon hearing the name Graham negotiating for us to went out of the country, endorsing us (the Jaguars) with the China embassy in Cebu through his initiative, we just believe Graham will deliver us the main problem of getting a Chinese visa and surely with Graham's endorsement at the China Embassy gave us so much relief that we will surely be able to get our visa on time.

Others labeled Graham as like a ghost that even if they don't see him, you can feel him everywhere, people work around him and get directive or instructions from him.

Surprisingly, many people really follow him. Imagine, Lim is not here in the Philippines, yet he gained so much attention from everyone in sports, the main reason why things move in his favor is that person you really feel safe and feel secure working with him so that with his successes in handling tournaments, many hated him so much.

Trust and respect are perhaps the-very-main reasons why Lim has so many followers and supporters to his projects everywhere. In any place he visited---be it a small town or a big city province, people just came out very openly supporting what Graham would plan for any sports, not only basketball but practically all sports, you talk about table tennis, lawn tennis, archery, wushu, judo, badminton, and many more.

Lim has also so many contacts and supporters from the students who are enrolled in different universities and colleges elsewhere in the country who are asking tips of advises how to get involved in sports, not for monetary consideration but more on for the love of sports.

In the 2015 Universiade held in Gwangju, South Korea, this writer was among the three Filipino media-men who were sent to cover the games.

Even if one cannot see Lim personally, they can still sense that he is there. No one can talk to him directly but he is there texting his friends how to handle tournaments as he guides them through mental communication.

Many are still wondering how things happen without seeing Lim around. Lim said the reason why he is successful because he likes and trust honest people and he is not dealing with people who have tattered credibility. Sometimes we fail because of our wrong decision, especially selfish decision.

Graham Lim said that having many friends is the usual guide to success that's why he choose his friends whom he can trust. GABRIEL G. MALAGAR/

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Goodbye 2017, hello 2018

12/28/2017

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Goodbye 2017, hello 2018

December 26, 2017 People's Tonight
Written by Ed Andaya; Published in Opinion

IN a few days, it will be goodbye 2017, hello 2018 for all of us.
This is the time of the year that the obituary in the sporting year about to end is now being written.

Surely, we had some memorable moments in the wonderful world of sports in 2017 -- Krizziah Lyn Tabora’s meteoric rise in the World Cup of Bowling, Carlo Biado’s triumph in the World 9-ball billiards, Jerwin Ancajas’ successful title defenses in boxing, Mary Joy Tabal’s dominance in athletics and Jomar Balangui’s inspiring performance in the Taipei Universiade wushu competitions.

And even the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas’ successul bid to host the 2023 FIBA World Cup along with Japan and Indonesia.

But of course, we are always ready for a fresh start.

We have celebrated the triumphs of these few good men and women in local sports but now we’re ready to move forward by welcoming 2018 and saying goodbye to the five things we’d like to leave behind in 2017.

-- POC president Peping Cojuangco and other over-staying and under-achieving sports officials.

We’ve heard about it many times before in the past. So we say enough is enough. The Filipino sports fans have suffered long enough.

Save for Tabora and a few other athletes who made us proud, the Philippines’ showing in the sporting year about to end left a lot to be desired. In fact, the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur was a complete disaster no matter how the best spin doctors put it.

And before that fateful two weeks in Kuala Lumpur where the Filipinos won only 23 golds, the Filipino sports fans were treated to nothing but sad telenovelas of failed missions here, there and everywhere.

Consider the debacles in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, the 2011 SEA Games in Jakarta, the 2012 Olympics in London, 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar, the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and 2017 SEA Games in KL -- all under Cojuangco’s watch.

In 2018, the sports community pray that these Jurassic-like sports officials will finally see the light, decide to throw in the towel and give way to young, energetic and results-oriented new leaders.

It’s a dream. But we can dream, can’t we?

-- Too much politics and the never-ending power struggle among sports leaders.

Most of the disasters in international competitions have been blamed on the wrong choice of athletes tasked to represent the country.

But do we have the right officials?

Since being appointed by President Duterte to the country’s government sports body, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Butch Ramirez and his four commissioners -- Ramon Fernandez, Charles Maxey, Arnold Agustin and Celia Kiram -- are waging an all-out war against corruption in sports and eradicate the bata-bata practice by some non-performing NSAs.

As Ramirez himself said, “Money isn’t only problem affecting local sports. Sometimes the choice of athletes by our officials hurt our chances, too. It’s about time we do something about it.”

The leadership squabbles in some national sports associations also hurt our chances to do better in the sporting field.

Why, even the ever-reliable Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP), which has produced one gold and two silver medals in only four Universiades, is now being pulled down by power-hungry, credit-grabbing individuals.

After giving the country a gold medal in chess thru GM Wesley So in 2013 Kazan Universiade and silver medals in taekwondo thru Samuel Morrison in 2011 Shenzhen and wushu thru Balangui in 2017 Taipei, FESSAP is now being unfairly questioned by several individuals who want to take over and replace it with their own organization.

In 2018, we hope these self-proclaimed leaders put an end to politics in sports and give credit where credit is due.

-- Unsportsmanlike attitude of officials and below-par performances of referees and other game officials.

We all know that nobody is perfect. In sports, even top officials make glaring errors in judgment.

This year, we have had enough that we will surely run out of space if we list the so-called violators.

We certainly can leave them behind and see more sportsmanship on and off the court next year.

We surely don’t want another young reader writing the newspaper editor to ask if there’s still sportsmanship in sports.

-- Gambling, game-fixing, point-shaving and related nuances.

We know they exist as far back as the birth of the Olympic Games in Greece. But can we at least control them, or as they used to say it in politics, moderate the greed?

Although nobody can prove it, many great games and great players have been unfairly affected by these malpractices. Several collegiate players have been unceremoniously removed from their teams on suspicions that they took a dive on important games.

If we can’t completely stop it, at least let’s try to leave some of them behind in 2017.

-- And finally, an end to the never-ending persecution of our friend, Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) secretary-general Graham Lim.

What have you done wrong in sports, Mr. Lim?

If wanting to be a Filipino citizen and joining your family at home after being forced out for so many years now is a crime, then maybe let’s bring together all our brilliant lawmakers and rewrite all existing laws about human rights.

If trying to earn a living as honestly as he can is also a crime, let’s also persecute all the less-fortunate individuals selling their wares on the sidewalks.

And if loving basketball too much is a crime, let’s deport him to some faraway island where there are no basketballs.

In 2018, let me add our small voice to the silent majority wishing -- and praying -- for an end to this unfair and inhuman treatment of Lim.

It just wasn’t right.

NOTES -- Happy birthday to my youngest brother Christopher Andaya, who will celebrate on Dec. 31 in Riyadh, KSA.

For comments and suggestions, e-mail to [email protected]

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OF SPORTS, POLITICS AND GOOD GOVERNANCE (Philippines):

3/30/2017

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Article for March 30, 2017 Address to:
The Honorable Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

OF SPORTS, POLITICS AND GOOD GOVERNANCE (Philippines):
President Durterte – In response to some sector’s appeal for the United Nations to interfere in Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.
By: Graham C. Lim, member, National Press Club of the Philippines

Nearly 11 months after he took office as President of the Republic of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has continued to wage war against illegal drugs in his country. It is the centerpiece of his governance in addition to his goal to eradicate corruption in the bureaucracy.

A great majority of the Filipino people is appreciative of President Duterte’s campaign against drugs proliferation. A mid-March survey by Pulse Asia (a respected survey company in the Philippines) showed that 82 percent of Filipinos feel more safe than before when president Duterte launched his campaign against unscrupulous people in the drug trade at the start of his six-year term.

It feels good to see real changes happening in less than a year’s time under the administration of President Duterte.

Duterte’s genuine campaign for change is a phenomenon that only Filipinos can be proud of but also a shining breakthrough in other parts of the world where the menacing drug trade has prospered and narco-politics now rule.

The drug menace has destroyed human lives, break up family, and endanger the security of social communities.

Duterte’s national leadership of more than 100 million Filipinos stems from his strong political will on matters that greatly affect his countrymen.

The ordinary Filipino has been seeking solutions to various problems that had hounded past presidents and addressed by them half-heartedly.

Worse, some of the national leaders brush them off like an irritant fly. The Secretary of Justice from the past administration, is now an imprisoned Senator after being charged of being a drug protector at the National Penitentiary Bilibid Prison, which was under her supervision during her time at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and was infested with drug trafficking and other criminal activities.

That the opposition, of which the country’s Vice President is the titular head, is accusing the Duterte of criminal acts arising in the campaign against drugs, like alleged extrajudicial killings of drug addicts/protectors, has raised some concern to many.

The Vice President who is with other political party, even went too far to send a video to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations of alleged criminal acts by the police and the President, without verifying the authenticity of the reported extra-judicial killings, nor any proofs that the killings of drug personalities were state-sponsored.

The report , which is allegedly part of the opposition to destabilize the Duterte administration and an open invitation for outside forces to meddle in the affairs of the country, is simply a demolition job as most statements are not of first-hand knowledge and mostly were worded with “She said, he said, and according to ….”

That the United Nations and European Union will fall for this zarzuela is astonishing. They are riding on empty space as reports brought to them are never verified, relying on the say-so of the opposition, Commission on Human Rights (whose leader was appointed by past administration during his time), hypocritical Church (financially well-off despite the vow of poverty and chastity professed by the priesthood) and moneyed anti-Duterte trolls in the United States that are out to topple Duterte and install their puppet in the opposition.

That Duterte was the winner of the Philippine presidential elections by more than a six million-vote advantage of the second-place finisher shows that he has the mandate of the Filipino people. That “The voice of the people is the voice of God” is a generally acceptable principle, too.

But Duterte is being pilloried by foreign imperialists who see the president as a maverick who is not dancing to their traditional music of paying homage to them.

Duterte has an independent mind and is not beholden to the master-slave policies of foreign governments such as the U.S. and European countries.

His program is for the Filipino to stand up on its own and be proud of its race. He is fully committed to the betterment of the Filipino first and foremost.

Duterte’s love for the poor is admirable as he, too, came from a poor family. He does not want Juan dela Cruz, or the ordinary folks, to suffer humiliation and surrender its dignity in the face of financial hardship.

The traffic in the major thoroughfares in the Metro Manila area admittedly has been horrendous. But what made matters worse in the past was the high-handed attitude of some taxi drivers, illegal activities in the international airports (like the planting of bullets there during the watch of the previous administration that is now a thing of the past under Duterte) and the maltreatment of Filipino overseas workers. These are some of major problems that Duterte inherited from the incompetent and vindictive past administration that was also plagued by corrupt practices by lower-ranked officials whom he considered as friends who are untouchables

The military/police is another area that Duterte has sought to strengthen. The Philippine National Police is committed to tread the straight and narrow path. The rule of law is the guiding principle. Duterte has started to dismiss scalawags in the police ranks and in the long run, he intends to uplift their stature through the upgrade of their salary and equipment.

Soon the general public will have a better perception of our military and police forces, so unlike before when they were depicted as corrupt and even clumsy as portrayed in the movies.

In Duterte, Juan dela Cruz has finally found an ally, somebody who is dead-serious in solving the problems that have taken their toll on poor Filipinos who neither have the finances nor power on their side.

Duterte is aggressively going after drug lords and drug users among all classes, including the rich and influential.

He is going after corrupt government officials that launder money and stash their ill-gotten wealth in foreign banks, greedy oligarchs that control the country’s economy, and is trying his darn best to correct the flawed and corrupt justice system that has wrought havoc on law-abiding citizens and instead has given the law breakers the impunity to do wrong on the guise that their human rights are protected by the inutile Commission on Human Rights now and before during the term of an immoral and corrupt Senator – now imprisoned without bail for her illicit drug activities and bribery acts in the National Penitentiary Bilibid Prison – as this adulterous Senator (who publicly admitted to being the mistress of a married driver of hers during her stay in the DOJ) had previously held the top positions in the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

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Difference between FIVB and FIBA:

10/12/2016

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FIVB – International Volleyball Federation
FIBA – International Basketball Federation

The FIVB and FIBA, the two world-governing sports organizations for volleyball and basketball, respectively, have contrasting management styles.

Whereas the FIVB adheres to democratic process, the FIBA subscribes to centralized rule with dictatorial tendencies.

Here’s the comparison.

The officials of the FIVB are elected by the Congress with the president heading the leadership.

On the other hand, the FIBA is run Mafiosa-style like a family corporation led by its secretary general Patrick Baumann and secretary general emeritus Borislav Stankovic and others who benefit from the ransacking of the FIBA coffers like Robert “Bob” Elphinston, and many more…..

The FIVB holds its Congress to determine who are its legitimate members, while the Secretariat, which is composed of selective members headed by shadowy ringleader Borislav Stankovic and his lackey Baumann, has absolute authority to pick who it desires as members so long as you have the financial capability to cater to the whims of the inept duo.

Their convoluted motto: Show me the money and you become a FIBA member regardless of anything else.

The FIVB recently held its Congress in Argentina and tackled the issue of whether to expel one of its member, the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) that is the current National Sports Association for volleyball in the Philippines that the Philippine Olympic Committee headed by an aging and overstaying official wanted to dismiss in favor of a bogus organization known “LVPI” that he could easily control.

The democratic style of dealing with issues, with due process available to the aggrieved, is very laudable and speaks highly of the FIVB.

That can hardly be said of the FIBA, which sacked the tradition-steeped Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), in favor of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), whose leader is a business tycoon whose money overflows because of his connection with his Indonesian friend.

Without hearing the side of the BAP, which is part and parcel of any dispute that calls for due process, Baumann, in conspiracy with his aging mentor Stankovic, expelled the BAP and took in the SBP in 2009.

This was done unilaterally as other members of the credibility-challenged FIBA were not involved the process. The dictatorial words of Baumann and Stankovic were the only voices heard.

As it turned out, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Such is the sad state of the FIBA today as members are silently moving around to question the incompetent FIBA leadership, coming as it did on the heels of the FIFA (world-governing body for football) scandal that booted out the corrupt leaders of the football organization.

The purpose of this correspondence is for the non-aligned FIBA members to visualize the stark difference in the running of federation affairs by the FIVB versus the FIBA and for them to finally speak up against the dictatorial and corrupt practices in the FIBA hierarchy so that the latter may yet be cleansed of its tainted image and credibility around the world, so much so that one National Basketball Association team owner, Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks, publicly said that the FIBA is all about money.

The FIBA is not Baumann, Stankovic and their gang alone. But the way it has been run from the top, the FIBA has all the markings of a family corporation whose objective is not to uplift basketball all over the world but rather fill up the pockets of Baumann, Stankovic and their filthy and greedy ilk.

Corruption is not acceptable in the FIBA and everywhere else.

That the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) was invited to attend the FIVB Congress to state its case to all the entire FIVB membership and their fate left to the sentiments of all the members of the organization without any financial considerations speaks well of the democratic process observed by the FIVB leadership.

If only the BAP was accorded the same democratic treatment then Philippine basketball would not have been in shambles today where only money talks and nothing else does.

The BAP was not allowed to present its case and no due process was held primarily because the issue had long been settled in favor of the moneyed SBP for monetary and marketing consideration.

The FIBA Commission would not hear anything about the BAP position and later orchestrated to torpedo the case the BAP filed because the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) that led to the ouster of the BAP from the FIBA even if it had been a member of FIBA family since 1936.

In a grand conspiracy among Baumann and his gang, the FIBA and SBP, and ultimately the CAS (some of its equally corrupt members are chummy with the FIBA top honcho), the BAP case was dismissed without a thorough study and oral arguments presented by the opposing sides.

The wining and dining simply got the demolition job done against the BAP.

Stranger than fiction, the CAS decision against the BAP was never posted in the former’s website bulletin.

It could not even be ascertain if the CAS knew that the BAP and PBA (professional league) are two different entities.

Though moot and academic, in hindsight, it would have best for the FIBA hierarchy to tackle the issue of basketball leadership in the Philippines in a FIBA Congress and have the entire membership hear out both sides and then determine a solution to the case without any bias to any.

Fairness dictates that the FIBA should have allowed the democratic process to proceed in the BAP vs. SBP case through a Congress and before the entire FIBA family.

This was what was exactly done by the FIVB when it tackles the volleyball leadership in the Philippines before its Congress. How did this problem come about? It is the same scenario that was instigated by the top official of the Philippine Olympic Committee in the past when it dismissed not only the leadership in the BAP but also more than 20 National Sports Associations (NSAs). He set up new organizations and put in people that he could easily control in the positions of various NSAs that opposed his own leadership.

Good day to all members of the FIVB family.

And for the untainted and respectable members of the FIBA organization, stand up and be counted.

Kindly wake up and face the music that the unilateral and politically-motivated decisions of the Secretariat led by Baumann and Stankovic et. al are unacceptable and are slowly eroding the confidence in the organization due to its tainted image, declining credibility and worse of all, issues of alleged corruption.

Good day to everyone. May the good always be triumphant!

Sincerely,

Graham C. Lim
Secretary General, Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP)
Member, National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC)

Cc: FIVB Regional Office: Dr. Ary S. Graca, FIVB President[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

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Corruption persists in Philippine sports

3/6/2016

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SPECIAL REPORT

‘Corruption persists in Philippine sports’
March 6, 2016 10:21 pm by JOEL M. SY EGCO, SENIOR REPORTER

SOMEWHERE in Asia: IT has been a lonely and uphill battle against perceived corruption in Philippine sports but Graham Lim, whose supposed persecution through the machinations of the powers that be made him flee the country, will not surrender until the sports sector has regained its glory.

“Our sports sector has been badly politicized and monopolized. Since the present leaders of the sports industry took control of the sector in 2005, we saw the deterioration of the quality and conditions of our athletes. Corruption has many faces here.

Billions of pesos are pillaged by a powerful few at the expense of sportsmen. I simply won’t stop exposing them until we regained what was lost,” Lim told The Manila Times in an exclusive interview in an Asian country that has been his “home” for the past three years.

Born and raised in the Philippines, Lim was forced to go on “exile” after he was declared an “undesirable alien” by the Department of Justice three years ago.
The decision was issued allegedly because of the pressure exerted by his powerful rivals — Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) head Manuel V. Pangilinan.

“I have been at odds with both men on a matter of principle. Money and influence-peddling are what they have in abundance. What I only have are my honor and principles, which are priceless and never negotiable,” Lim said.
He was the secretary general of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) that Cojuangco delisted from the POC a few years ago.

Pangilinan’s SBP has since taken over BAP’s slot.

“Monopoly is in one way or the other a form of corruption whether in politics and business,” according to Lim, who revealed that a top government official, through an emissary, had asked P6 million from him to “fix” his case.

“I did not yield to the extortion try. Neither did I try to bribe anyone. I said I would rather give my money, if any, to my family than contribute to corruption,” he said.

Lim claimed that the various National Sports Associations (NSAs) are dictated upon by Cojuangco and whoever opposes the former lawmaker is dismissed “by hook or by crook” and replaced by people who “toe his line.”

He said Cojuangco “has a stranglehold on the POC presidency and has tight control over the 28 or so existing NSAs.”

Cojuangco, an uncle of President Beningo Aquino 3rd, has been POC president for the past decade.

His clout grew when he had his golf buddy Ricardo Garcia appointed as chairman of the controversial Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

The agency was recently thrust in the spotlight after it was reported that some P1 billion in casino earnings of First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp. for sports development and withheld from the PSC from January 2012 to June 2015 had been diverted to former Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima.

“The PSC is being funded from taxpayers’ money and Filipinos have the right to question whether their money is being used efficiently,” Lim said in reaction to the report.

“There are squid tactics employed by Cojuangco and Pangilinan to control leadership in Philippine sports. Dictatorship is their way of governance. Instead of hearing out diversified views to get a better perspective of issues that divide them, the two would rather suppress them,” he noted.
Incompetent

While sports is not a top priority in the administration of Aquino, Lim said the President should have at least admonished his uncle because of his “incompetent leadership” as POC president since “money spent on national sports development is government money.”

“Philippine sports has been in the doldrums because of the weak leadership of Cojuangco, who until now espouses political patronage and acts like he is the only one who knows everything about sports. Cojuangco has overstayed much too long at the helm,” he added.

“It’s high time that Philippine sports be led by young and idealistic people who have the country in their hearts instead of the current deadwood leadership who only seek to protect their own interests,” Lim said.

A sports insider from one of the NSAs who asked not to be named also questioned the appointment of equestrienne Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski as the country’s representative to the International Olympic Committee.
Cojuangco-Jaworski is the daughter of Cojuangco Jr.

“Her appointment surprised everyone. It came without warning. That’s how powerful they are. They have the POC and the PSC is also under their control,” the source said.

The Philippines has been lagging behind in international sports not only in Asia but also at the Southeast Asian level.
In 2015, the country placed sixth among 11 countries in the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG).

Two years ago, Manila slipped to a record-worst seventh in the SEAG, tailing Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia.

Lim recalled that in the 1960s, “Filipino athletes were giving Japan and South Korea a run for their money in the Asian Games.”

“The search for a first-ever gold medal in the Summer Olympics remains elusive while our Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand and Indonesia have already accomplished the feat many moons ago,” he said.

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Justice & Truth

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Mulan, the movie

FIBA Secretariat pandemic

New basketball association set up by all-time Japanese greats and the FIBA Secretariat curse.

The Tale of two powers: Manduro & guaido

Graham, the invisible action man

Goodbye 2017, hello 2018

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Difference between FIVB and FIBA:

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