The country’s multi-business venture magnate has taken some time off from his busy schedule for a fireside chat about sports, describing it as a “great equalizer”.
Perhaps one of the very few business tycoons who serve as a benefactor and an actual in-arena spectator at the same time, Metro Pacific Investments Corp Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan underscored the importance of sports and how it helps who engage in it.
“Well, because you don’t need to be rich to be able to excel. In fact it is a great incentive for those who are less endowed to excel in sports,” Pangilinan said in an interview on Rappler’s Homestretch.
Wearing just a plain collarless T-shirt while talking to Patrick “Pato” Gregorio, the program host in one of the villas of Camp John Hay, Pangilinan said that “it’s your way out of poverty.”
“Basketball is one. And prime examples are collegiate basketball like La Salle and UP. They are now very competitive. They used not to be for so long,” Pangilinan added.
Probably taking note of how sports like basketball had catapulted a nobody to superstar status, he said that more athletes from the regions are being known internationally.
“I’m glad that now it is a very competitive sport because it will attract more and more of our people who come from the provinces to be able to attract global attention,” he added.
Aside from an avid supporter of professional basketball where the MPIC has three teams in the PBA, Pangilinan has also supported Philippine athletes who have brought home trophies and medals from international sporting events. These include Olympic dual gold medalist Carlos Yulo.
Through the MVP Foundation, budding athletes were also trained in multi sports like badminton, boxing, golf and taekwondo.
Recently, he has also spearheaded the revival of Tour of Luzon which was a famous cycling event in the 1970s and 1980s that went on hibernation for the past several years.
As chair of MPIC, Pangilinan oversees diverse businesses in tollroads, media, public utilities, transportation, hospital and medical care. Recently, it has acquired from BCDA a management contract for the operation and maintenance of Camp John Hay in Baguio, the country’s summer capital.
