Cojuangco should shelve Clark project.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Manolo R. I[currency]igo

(Christian Filipinos will mark All Saints' Day today, an annual rite where their dearly departed one are remembered. In our case, my family will take this occasion to remember Carlo, my eldest son who died at the age of 33 in an alleged hit-and-run accident on MacArthur Highway in Marilao, Bulacan, under mysterious circumstances on Nov. 4, 1994. Sadly, his case remains unsolved up to now. But despite our feeling of hopelessness, we are particularly relieved to know that there are people who care. For instance, I found in my files an old letter sent to me by longtime friend Paul Mortel of Marikina City, a portion of which is reprinted as follows. "In the meantime that the case remains unsolved, please be consoled with the fact that whoever is guilty of this crime, he has already paid for it as if he were behind bars because the guilty conscience is the invisible jailer in the world.")

I AM glad to know that former Tarlac Rep. Jose "Peping" Cojuangco will become the new president of the Philippine Olympic Committee by acclamation, thus avoiding a confrontation with incumbent POC head Celso Dayrit, who announced recently that he was not seeking reelection.

This is a good sign for Philippine sports, a much-awaited development that could end the power struggle in the trouble-wracked POC under the new leadership of the rich and influential Cojuangco, brother of former President Corazon Aquino.

But I am bothered by published reports that Cojuangco is looking into the possibility of selling the dilapidated Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and using the proceeds to build a new national sports training center in Clark Field, the former American military base in Angeles, Pampanga. I beg to disagree with him on his choice of Clark as a sports training center.

As I have said again and again, Clark Field is not the ...