Annabelle Tario’s Tale of Woe and Vindication

Annabelle Tario was one of the finest athlete/coaches the country has ever had in Dragon Boating. She was the national team drummer for so many years, and she provided the field leadership that catapulted the Philippine Dragon Boat Team to unprecedented heights in 2007-10, leading to 2 world records that astounded the international dragon boat community. Coach Annabs, as she is fondly called, set high physical standards, causing our paddlers – both from the men’s and the women’s side – to raise their performance levels even higher than everyone thought possible, leading to the stunning world record performances. That said, our confident Dragon Boat national team prepared for the Asian Games of 2010 for a chance to give more glory to the country.

Unfortunately, fate would play a painful joke on the team. Asked to undergo time trials, the team’s results were questioned, and then, there were insinuations that the players were on steroids! To make matters worse, instead of ordering a re-run to clarify questions raised and having the paddlers tested for drugs, they were simply automatically disallowed from representing the country.

These athletes lost years of their lives, practicing, toiling, enduring, only to be denied the chance for glory and gold, by Peping’s Mafia. Col Jeff Tamayo, a Peping lackey and the architect of the team’s demolition job, did not even have the guts to face the team when the decision to disqualify them was handed down. No questions on his onerous report could be raised, no howl of protest could be heard. The PDBF would later answer the allegations point-by-point but the high-and-mighty POC would hear none of it. Their minds were already made up. Instead, the players were urged to change the leadership in the PDBF, a clear message that the decision to disqualify them was not based on their performance, but based on the non-affiliation of the PDBF leadership to Peping’s evil empire.

For all of Tamayo’s spiel about integrity, fair play, sportsmanship, etc, the fact that he did not give the athletes any chance to respond to the questions he raised, plus the fact that he insinuated the players’ drug use and never even had it verified, makes him the very monster who has no right to talk about integrity, fair play and all. Tamayo, whose own NSA of Soft Tennis (say that again?) has not even been able to produce a single medal for the country – ever, has clearly been a mere hachetman for the Peping Mafia. The regular membership of his close-to-non-existent sport should be questioned. He is simply another extra vote for the Mafia, nothing else. His refusal to resign from the Executive Board in the present POC fiasco is another big anomaly.

There are no words to describe the frustration, the heartaches the Peping Mafia has dealt these athletes with the unjust cancellation of their right to compete. They lost the best years of their lives, they lost opportunities for monetary benefits, all because they did not fit into Peping’s grand plan of dominating Philippine Sports. For Peping, it was better to get no gold medals at all, if those golds were the product of sports federations not aligned to his empire.

In Chapter 1 of Storyline: Dragon, Coach Annabs recalls those dark, painful days, when their world was crushed by the dirty politics that Peping, Tamayo and their Mafia had dealt unfairly on them. 

“After so many years, I watched it again … I have almost forgotten how it felt back then…. the pain we went through, the frustration, the anger, the whirl of events towards the World Championships in Tampa Florida.”

“I think this video is one of many that summarizes what transpired in 2011. When we were disqualified to participate in the 2010 Asian Games na 100% sure kami na hahakot kami ng medalya (which we were 100% sure we were going to rake in medals,) and at the very least a silver medal, and a new World record, sa womens naman that time around…. pero hindi nangyari dahil nga sinipa kami ng POC palabas ng Rizal at wala silang balak humakot ng medalya para sa bansa natin (in the women’s category at that time… but it didn’t happen because POC kicked us out of Rizal and they did not have any intentions of getting medals for the country). When PDBF was unjustly stripped of its NSA status. It will describe, at least yung surface ng emotional roller coaster that we went through, kasi mahirap talagang i-explain how it felt. Kayo na lang mag judge. (It is just so hard to explain how it felt. You be the judge).”

However, a year after these paddlers were denied their chance to compete in the Asian Games, the dragon boat world itself would provide them an opportunity for vindication. Invited to compete to defend their title in the IDBF World Championship in Tampa, Florida, the team hunkered down to train with a vengeance. Despite the lack of support from government, ridiculed by people including the same Col Tamayo who denied them the chance for an Asian gold, they were more than motivated to give it their best. Wala yan, matatanda na yan, ampaw yan. (They’re nothing. They’re old already. They’re like ampaw, a chinese snack that’s all hollow inside.) They would continue to endure the ridicule, and they would vow to show the non-believers what they were made of. 

Here are some excerpts of Chapter 2 of Storyline: Dragon.

“What can we do?…. umiyak na lang kami” (What can we do? … We could only cry.) – Coach Annabs

“Naghirap kami, pinaghandaan namin… yung nagfocus kami sa isang bagay lang, ang goal lang namin dun, mag GOLD sa Asian Games” (We suffered, but we trained… we focused on one thing alone… our only goal then, to get the Gold medal in the Asian Games.)- Amina B Anuddin-Manuel

“Hindi mo pwede sabihin sa kanila, I’m sorry. Wala…. There are no words to describe yung lungkot ng lahat, yung frustration” (You cannot simply tell them, I’m sorry. Nothing… there are no words to describe the grief, the frustration.) – Coach Annabs