On Saturday, March 12, Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena posted a note on his Facebook page sure to again dishearten his fans. It’s a message written by the prize-winning athlete himself, currently number 5 in the men’s pole vault world rankings. It’s entitled “Today the Country I Love Loses.”
You must have read it by now. It’s the guy’s sentiments over how prepared and ready and qualified he is for the World Indoor Championships happening in Belgrade next week. “I am in prime physical and mental condition. I am ready to be the first Philippine HOME-GROWN athlete to compete in the Worlds, and I am ready to compete and bring home a medal. Now is my time; NO, now is our time!” EJ wrote. “But sadly, we will never know.”
He said he was not endorsed for the competition—although he didn’t say which entity it was that failed to do the endorsing. Now the registration for the games are closed and EJ won’t be there to represent the Philippines. Won’t be there, period. “I am the only top-ranked vaulter not participating,” wrote the Olympian.
If you’ve been following the 26-year-old’s feud with PATAFA, or the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, as well as his performance in recent competitions, you’d know the guy hasn’t let the stress of his troubles get the best of him where it counts. In early March, he set a new personal record when he finished second place in Rouen, France, going over the 5.86 meter indoor pole record he set in Poland last year. In his Facebook note, he says proudly that he holds “the 4th highest jump of the season.”
EJ’s saddening message has been shared 13,000 times on Facebook and has garnered many sympathetic comments from his followers. “Crying with you for the Philippines,” said one. “Just hang on. Many Filipinos are behind you,” wrote another. “Please find another country, Ej. Hindi mawawala ang support namin kahit ibang bansa na ang nirerepresent mo,” said yet another.
Clearly moved by EJ’s disappointment, one of his professors at the University of Santo Tomas even wrote a touching message of support for EJ on Facebook, which we’re publishing here with permission. The post gives us a glimpse of EJ outside of the sporting tracks, and confirms his sense of commitment goes beyond being a pole vaulter.
“Sad, maybe angry even, to learn about this,” writes Levine Lao, EJ’s instructor in Philosophy, reacting to the athlete’s post Saturday. “This fine man does not deserve this kind of treatment. He’s an athlete, and he delivers. Perhaps his strongest qualities are integrity, responsibility, dedication, and commitment. These are virtues that would be hard for him to lose.”
Here’s the rest of Lao’s message:
“I remember him from my Philosophy class at the Faculty of Engineering. He was already a national athlete then, competing in the UAAP and international contests. He would be absent at times but whenever he attended class, he would sit in the first or second row, participate in discussions, and he always asked what he had missed.
“He would stay a few minutes after class to ask for clarifications about the lessons, mindful that he might drag the discussions during our actual schedule if he asked something that had already been explained when he was not around. In between his questions, he would tell us—a bit shy but still enthusiastically—some stories from his recent tourneys and also about the discrepancies between the attention and support appropriated to mainstream sports events and track and field. Us because some of his friends would stay behind, too.
“It was easy to forgive his not being in class for a few days—because he was absent for something he believed in and something he was working for. It’s not like he was absent because he was playing DOTA or bingeing on alcohol across España or Dapitan. Besides, he did not exceed the number of allowable absences.
“My subject was also the last subject of his class on Wednesdays and Fridays, 2nd term, school year of 2015-2016. If i recall it right, we always ended at eight in the evening. So if that's not commitment for a student-athlete, then I don't know what is. After the term, he earned a good grade and, for whatever it’s worth, my sincere respect. That respect remains to this day. He may be a full-time athlete now, but again virtues are hard to lose. With his virtues, I know Mr. Obiena does not deserve this non-endorsement to the World Championships.”