PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY November 1 - 15, 2018
MAHARLIKA AWARDEE 2013 GINA PINANGAT JOINS THE
CANADIAN INVICTUS GAMES 2018 TEAM TO SYDNEY
By Cee Belg
Named after the Latin word
that means “unconquered” or
“undefeated”, the INVICTUS Games is
an international adaptive multi-sport
event crated by the United Kingdom’s
Prince Harry, Duke of Essex.
This is where wounded, injured
or sick armed services personnel and
their associated veterans take part.
The first Games took place in
Sept 2014 and has since moved to
Orlando, Florida in 2016 and Toronto,
Canada in 2017.
This year it was held in Sydney,
New South Wales, Australia. Back in
2013 Prince Harry visited the “Warrior
Games” a competition for wounded
servicemen organized by the U.S.
Department of Defense and was so
inspired by the organization.
According to HRH The
Duke of Sussex, the
Patron of the Invictus
Games
Foundation,
“the games has since
shone a spotlight on
the
unconquerable
character of servicemen
and
women,
their
families and the invictus
spirit and the games use
of the power of sport to
inspire recovery, support
and
rehabilitation
and generate wider
understanding and respect for the
wounded, injured and sick servicemen
and women”.
The 2018 Invitus Games Sydney
slated Oct. 20-27, 2018 saw the
participation of 40 Canadian Military
members and veterans including 18
military members and 22 veterans
that competed in 11 sports ranging
from archery to a driving challenge.
Naomi Fong who served the Canadian
Armed Forces for 9 years represented
the Canada as the country’s flag
bearer for the opening ceremonies.
Retired Cpl Gina Pinangat of
Victoria BC, the lone Canadian-
Filipino of Igorot descent was one of
the above 40 Canadian contingent to
the games.
This petite 53-year-old migrated
to Canada in 1991 under the Foreign
Domestic
Movement
Program.
After the program she found herself
taking on a job at Nortel Networks in
Montreal which ended up being laid
off. This prompted her to enlist with the
Canadian Forces where she was trained
as an Aerospace Telecommunications
and Information Systems Technician.
She has since retired after 9 years in
service. She was a recipient of the
Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur and
had a chance to meet Prince Charles
through this program.
She participated in the following
events.
Powerlifting
Women’s
Midweight IP2 and the Sailing
with Wlliott 7 Team & Wheelchair
Basketball Pool A. Gina alluded some
of the reasons for her to take on
the challenge of the game included
putting highlight to mental health not
just for servicemen and women
but the rest of society specially
the new migrants specially the
Filipino community in Canada.
That mental health issues abound
and that there is help out there. As
Prince Harry is quoted as saying
during the end of this year’s games:
“When you accept a challenge is
real, you can have hope. When
you understand your vulnerability,
you can become strong. When
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
you are brave
enough to ask
for help, you
can be lifted
up. You can
start
living,
doing, feeling
- not simply
surviving.” He further states that “The
secret of these Invictus Games is not
really about the amazing medical
science that has saves the lives of our
competitors and helped many for
them walk, swim or move again. The
secret to the success of these games
has been accepting that mental
health is the real key to recovery. Our
competitors have helped turn issues
of mental health from a sad story to
an inspiring one. They want to live
rather than just be alive”.