COMMUNITY NEWS
30
SPECTATOR
By Al Mendoza
WHAT makes the Philippine Air-
lines (PAL) click?
Well, aside from its new fleet of
state-of-the-art jets, PAL’s service has
consistently been world-class.
Thus, when Reyfort Fortaleza
aired a gripe about PAL’s ticket price
being a bit higher that the competi-
tion, he got an explanation clearer
than clear.
“It is because we have a ser-
vice that is beyond compare,” said
Cielo “Beng” Villaluna, the charming
spokesperson of PAL. “Not for any-
thing but our amenities, plus the other
perks that go with each ticket bought,
are not of the ordinary kind.”
End of conversation, happen-
ing recently at the Puso Restaurant of
Quest Hotel during breakfast at the
PAL Interclub Golf in Cebu City.
Also with us that memorable
morning was Jake P. Ayson, my good
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY March 1 - 15, 2019
Why PAL is always high up there
neighbor who
else?
Rey-
fort, for years
now a yearly participant in the fabled
team golf championship unfurled in
1947, was our Montreal Olympics
boxer now living comfortably in Can-
ada.
Reyfort owns a newspaper and
a magazine, both publications being
almost a Bible among thousands of
Filipinos living in Vancouver.
Now a senior, Reyfort plays in
the PAL Seniors event reserved for 55-
years-old and above that is held since
1986 on the first week of the PAL In-
terclub.
Reyfort made an eagle and,
when no one scored a hole-in-one
from among the 1,000-plus partici-
pants from virtually all corners of the
globe, he had wished his eagle would
win him a PAL ticket to London dur-
ing the awarding ceremonies.
“Sadly, it got raffled off,” rued Reyfort, so proud of his first ever eagle
that he kept boasting about it—in the
company of friends, at least.
Reyfort, who missed a bantam-
weight bronze in the 1976 Olympics
when a North Korean outpointed him
with a swarming offense, also joined
the PAL Media Golf preceding the PAL
Men’s Regular.
He was in contention after Day
One of the two-day Media Golf event,
but he faltered in the stretch—suc-
cumbing to exhaustion in the end as
the Inquirer’s Jong Arcano, Mindanao
Times’ Tommy Inigo and Cebu Sun-
Star chairman JayJay Neri finished 1-
2-3 in the 21-man field.
I finished ninth.
I’m happy with that after mak-
ing a fat 9 on No. 1 of the killer Alta
Vista, Cebu’s mountain course that
has been a Waterloo to many aspi-
rants.
I failed twice to cross the ravine
on Alta Vista’s scary No. 1, practically
burying huge hopes of a rally after my fighting first-day result at the exclusive
Cebu Country Club.
to action.
Pacquiao, who is with wife Jin-
kee and key members of his inner
circle in the final leg of their Switzer-
land-Germany-Austria tour, will arrive
in Dallas on the morning of Saturday.
Sean Gibbons, who is with Pac-
quiao in Salzburg right now, is setting
the stage for the fighting senator’s
first trip to Dallas in almost ten years.
In 2010, Pacquiao fought twice
there against Ghanaian Joshua Clot-
tey before 50,994 fans and Mexican
Antonio Margarito in front of 41,734 spectators.
Even if Pacquiao doesn’t end up
getting paired with either Spence or
Garcia, another guys is also on the ra-
dar screen: Keith Thurman.
Pacquiao, Spence, Garcia and
Thurman are all aligned with Al Hay-
mon’s Premier Boxing Champions
(PBC), making it easier for a fight in-
volving them to be finalized.
While Haymon won’t make him-
self seen, he will be closely monitor-
ing the proceedings and see where Pacquiao will fit in the drawing board.
Adding a touch of intrigue to
the slugfest will be the highly-possible
attendance of the lord of all the PBC
fighters in Floyd Mayweather.
Traditionally, Pacquiao doesn’t
see fights of potential rivals live, leav-
ing the burden of choosing his oppo-
nents to his promoter.
Last January, Pacquiao, who
turned 40 last December, easily beat
Adrien Broner to retain his world wel-
terweight crown at the MGM Grand in
Las Vegas. (N. Giongco, Tempo)
Jaime J. Bautista, PAL’s soft-
spoken President/CEO, made PAL
Interclub history when he became
the first ever top PAL official to hit the
ceremonial tee shot of the PAL Media
Golf on March 3 at CCC.
Jimmy was able to rewrite his-
tory despite his exceedingly busy
schedule, having to leave for Manila
just hours after hitting his inaugural
shot.
He was to catch a flight to
Phnom Penh the following morning,
in the company of his top lieutenants
Josen Perez de Tagle and Nannette
Versoza.
“Always, Sir Jimmy finds time
to travel if it’s for the best interest of
PAL,” said Cielo. “A leader for all sea-
sons, indeed.”
It is the likes of Jimmy that al-
ways puts PAL up high there.
Is that clear, Reyfort?
Pacquiao looking for potential rival
Manny Pacquiao is about to do
something he’s never done before –
watch a potential foe live at ringside.
On Saturday night (Sunday
noontime in the Philippines) at the
AT&T Stadium (formerly Cowboys
Stadium) in Arlington, near Dallas in
Texas, Pacquiao will see whether In-
ternational Boxing Federation (IBF)
welterweight king Errol Spence or
challenger Mikey Garcia or somebody
else will end up sharing the ring with
him when the Filipino legend returns
72nd PAL Interclub : Orchard bags PAL Founders title
The Orchard Golf and Country
Club took home the Founders division
at the close of the 72nd Philippine Air-
lines Interclub golf team champion-
ships over the weekend in Cebu City.
Orchard actually finished sec-
ond behind Cebu Country Club, but
was elevated to first after the Carmo-
na-based squad won the overall title.
Zachary Castro and Gabriel Mat-
thew Macalagium led Orchard in the
final day at Cebu Country Club with
35 and 34 points, respectively.
Orchard closed out with 129 for
482, 24 points ahead of Forest Hills.
Valley settled for third place with 439.
In the Aviator class, Club Filipi-
no de Cebu leaned on the final day 35
points of Baltaire Balanguan to beat
Alta Vista, 409-393. Third spot went
to Rancho Palos Verde Team 1 with
390.
Mactan Island captured Sports-
writer with 342 followed by Camp
John Hay 339 and Camp Evangelista
323.
The Friendship title was won by
Davao City Golf with 306 with South
Cotabato and Iligan finishing second
and third with 288 and 259, respec-
tively.
Meanwhile, Jolo Magcalayo of
Tagaytay Highlands won the individ-
ual title with 73 points, one ahead of
Bayani Garcia of Cebu Country Club.
This year’s Interclub is spon-
sored by Radio Mindanao Network,
Asian Air Safari, and Vanguard Radio
Network. Also extending support are
ABS-CBN Global Ltd. (The Filipino
Channel), Rolls Royce, Primax Broad-
casting Network, UM Broadcasting
Network (Mindanao), Fox Sports, Cig-
nal TV, GECAS, Boeing, Lufthansa
Technik AG, Manila Standard, Marco
Polo Plaza Cebu, Dusit Thani Manila,
and Casino Filipino. Official hotel
is Quest Hotel Conference Center
Cebu.
The final results:
CHAMPIONSHIP
–
Manila
Southwoods 507 (125-116-131-135),
Luisita 490 (118-114-132-126), Del
Monte 479 (122-121-117-119), Ta-
gaytay Highlands 464 (124-109-104-
127)
FOUNDERS – Cebu Country
Club 516 (124-121-131-140), The
Orchard 482 (121-110-122-129), For-
est Hills 458 (110-113-117-118), Val-
ley Golf CC 439 (108-117-111-103),
Apo Golf 429 (101-117-95-116), Riv-
iera 427 (112-115-104-96), Negros
occidental 419 (106-91-113-109),
Sherwood Hills 390 (101-105-95-
89), Southern California Redhawks
376 (93-100-88-95), FilAm Golf Tour
1 368 (87-84-99-98), Par 2000 312
(58-93-67-94)
AVIATOR – Club Filipino Inc de
Cebu 409 (112-92-95-110), Alta Vista
393 (103-97-92-101), Rancho Palos
Verdes Team 1 390 (101-92-92-104),
Villamor 386 (106-83-104-93), Eagle
Ridge 386 (98-105-94-89), Zambo-
anga 374 (94-82-103-95), Pueblo de
Oro 373 (87-88-103-95), Sta Elena
365 (97-94-89-85), Alabang 363 (86-
96-94-87), Manila Golf 362 (93-81-
91-97), Summit Point 361 (95-96-
75-95), Rancho Palos Verdes Team 2
340 (80-96-84-80), Iloilo 335 (100-
79-71-85), Stanford 332 (78-85-96-
93), Ream IMG Tagaytay Midlands
326 (82-81-87-76), Pearl Kai Hawaii
318 (85-85-74-73), Brittannika 310
(84-74-89-63), Lumbia 301 (88-65-
71-78), Engr and Architects 206 (64-
49-53-40), Western Social 162 (61-
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
68-0-33)
SPORTSWRITERS – Mactan Is-
land 342 (92-80-86-84), Camp John
Hay 339 (81-89-90-79), Camp Evan-
gelista 323 (81-74-76-92), FIl Am
Fairfield 323 (79-86-76-82), Bacolod
318 (70-82-88-78), Guinhalaran 313
(77-82-66-88), Up Tee Jots 299 (72-
79-81-67), Filipino Golfers in the Mid-
dle East Dubai 295 (68-75-61-91), Fil
Am Hawaii 281 (61-83-48-89), Seattle
269 (60-63-74-72), Bay Area 269 (77-
72-63-57), PGA British Columbia 268
(66-69-65-68), Sarangani 255 (75-
71-55-54), Lanang 254 (56-67-61-
70), Cattle Creek 229 (59-49-61-60),
Cotabato 220 (47-78-49-46), Fil Am
Golf Tour 2 212 (56-57-58-41), Green
Tee Club Riyadh 178 (44-49-42-43),
Greenhills West 171 (35-43-44-49),
Greater Vancouver Golf Assoc 151
(18-39-39-55)
FRIENDSHIP – Davao City Golf
306 (66-80-77-83), South Cotabato
Golf 288 (71-78-65-74), Iligan 259
(73-69-64-53), SF Maharlika 257 (55-
36-98-68), Silicon Valley 255 (73-55-
66-61), Mactan Island 253 (58-56-72-
67), Baguio 247 (75-59-58-55), San
Juanico 241 (58-60-
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