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| Amid a late scare from two kilometers away, the Karate One Youth League was a resounding success. PNA (file photo) |
MANILA—When some foreign karate officials expressed concern about the safety of them and especially the young karatekas who joined the Karate One Youth League over the weekend way before its actual start, Karate Pilipinas president Richard Lim assured them that the Philippines is not problematic as they thought.
"The perception was Manila is dangerous. Sabi ko, 'No it's not. You have to see it,'" Lim said.
However, on the eve of the four-day event at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, tensions broke out at the other side of Diokno Boulevard in Pasay when a group led by former senator Sonny Trillanes tried to issue an ICC-approved warrant of arrest to current legislator Bato Dela Rosa for his alleged involvement in the crimes against humanity slapped on former president Rodrigo Duterte.
While both the Senate and MOA Arena are just two kilometers apart, which means the drama inside the former had a feasible chance of spilling near the latter if all hell continued to break loose, Lim admitted that he had no idea what was going on at the north side of the said road.
"Honestly, hindi ko alam na nagkakagulo. We were so busy here," Lim said.
He added that he only found about the situation in the Senate when he checked back in their billeting hotel, and there, he received inquiries about whether the Karate One Youth League would still continue as scheduled.
"When I found out when I went back to the hotel, there were people telling me, 'Nagkakagulo na sa Senado. Hindi kaya ma-cancel yung event mo?' Sabi ko, 'Bakit naman maka-cancel? Is it really that bad?'" Lim further said, although he revealed too that he prayed that the arrest attempt on Dela Rosa would not lead to a people power revolution of sorts since rallyists supporting either Dela Rosa or his arrest were just outside Senate too.
Lim then lauded Senate president Alan Cayetano for playing the "cooler head" and keeping the commotion from getting worse.
"Good thing, si (Senate president) Alan Peter, medyo calm. Hindi niya pinalaki yung gulo, so na-control. That's good. I'm not happy kasi nag-away-away sila, but I'm happy that tumila. And I hope sana maayos yun," Lim further said.
He admitted, though, that he did not tell the international karate officials about the scare at the Senate.
"I don't want to spoil what they think about the Philippines. They know the Philippines is a tourist destination now. They know that it's peaceful here. I don't wanna destroy it. I'm happy with what they're experiencing now," Lim revealed, although he took pride on how everyone involved in the hosting of the Karate One Youth League had been hospitable to the foreign guests.
With only a little drama unfolding on Thursday at the Senate, when Dela Rosa apparently evaded arrest and escaped, the Karate One Youth League pushed through as scheduled.
Although another hiccup emerged in the form of a sudden power interruption at the MOA Arena due to a scheduled rotational brownout in all of Pasay on Thursday, Karate Pilipinas' hosting of the under-17 karate tournament was a huge success.
"The president of the World Karate Federation, Antonio Espinos himself, told me we gave them more than what they are asking for, so ibig sabihin, na-exceed namin yung expectations nila to the point that they want to do the official Asian leg of the Karate One Youth League, instead of Fujairah, in Manila in February. So that's a good sign that we're on the right track," Lim revealed a good news.
He further said that this early, the local organizing committee is already thinking of a contingency plan if another political tension arises, although he hopes February next year would generally be peaceful enough to hold the next Karate One Youth League hosting as scheduled.
