I join the Filipino nation in giving our heartfelt congratulations to our boxing champs for their victory over Mexico.

Gerry Peñalosa has shown remarkable courage and skill in winning his title. Boom Boom Bautista’s loss is but a temporary setback, one that he will rise from with greater strength and determination.

We value our champions as symbols of Filipino excellence and persistence.

They serve as role models for our youth while inspiring the rest of us to work hard for a more united and triumphant future.

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led the nation today in celebrating the victory of Filipino boxers over their Mexican opponents in the World Boxing Cup at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California.

In a statement, the President lauded the boxing champs whom she called “symbols of Filipino excellence and persistence.”

“I join the Filipino nation in giving our heartfelt congratulations to our boxing champs for their victory over Mexico,” the President said.

The Philippine contingent composed of Gerry Peñalosa, Z Gorres, AJ Banal, Michael Domingo and Diosdado Gabi all bested their Mexican foes -- Jhonny Gonzales, Eric Ortiz, Jorge Cardenas, Miguel Roman and Jose Beranza, respectively, in separate encounters to win the coveted $500,000 cash prize and World Cup trophy.

Only Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista of the six-man Filipino boxing contingent lost to his Mexican foe, WBO super bantam weight Daniel Ponce de Leon.

“Gerry Peñalosa has shown remarkable courage and skill in winning his title,” the President said.

She added that “Boom Boom Bautista’s loss is but a temporary setback, one that he will rise from with greater strength and determination.”

“They (the Filipino boxers) serve as role models for our youth while inspiring the rest of us to work hard for a more united and triumphant future,” she said.

Under Boxing World Cup rules, the country that scores more wins takes possession of the World Cup, a gem-studded trophy estimated to cost $500,000.

In case of a tie, the country with the more number of knockouts emerges champion. The country that wins the more number of rounds combined would be declared winner in the event of another deadlock.

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Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said today plans are afoot to expand PhilHealth coverage to enable more indigent families to enjoy greater access to world-class health services.

 As of now, four million indigent families, or 20 million Filipinos are enrolled in the PhilHealth program, he said.

“With our economy reaching a new level of maturity and stability with some of the strongest macroeconomic fundamentals in a decade, the Arroyo administration is now making long overdue investments in human and physical infrastructure, including billions of pesos in health care,” Bunye said his weekly column, The View from the Palace.

He noted that the President motored to St. Luke’s Heart Institute in Quezon City on Aug. 6, the hospital’s 21 anniversary celebration, to again express her gratitude to the “hospital and its topnotch physicians and staff for bringing the First Gentleman back from, in the President’s words, ‘the brink of death.’”

Quoting the President, Bunye said the best way she could show her gratitude is by ensuring that her administration cares for the health and welfare of the Filipinos.

He said Health Secretary Francisco Duque and his team at the Department of Health (DOH) are undertaking initiatives to “introduce outpatient PhilHealth screening packages for cardiovascular and related diseases. If the program is found to be feasible, it will empower even more Filipinos to consult and take their tests at world-class facilities.”

In addition, there are also plans to speed up the establishment of regional heart, kidney and lung centers for the benefit of patients who cannot travel to Manila because of the high cost of transportation and the severity of their medical conditions.

These initiatives, Bunye said, are now possible with the government’s savings of about P20 billion in debt servicing as a result of lower interest rates and the stronger peso.         

“As the President said, we can now shift from debt service to health service,” he added.

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