Tuesday, October 16, 2007 · Alaska Aces in Action

Being aware of their social responsibility the Alaska Aces visited the National Training School for Boys in Sampaloc, Tanay to interact with, serve as inspiration and give advice to wayward teenagers.

The facility was school and home to boys under 18 years of age who have come in conflict with the law. Being underage, the boys cannot be kept in prisons and are instead housed at the school for rehabilitation.

Assistant coaches Jojo Lastimosa, Joel Banal, Luigi Trillo and Bong Hawkins led the Aces. Players included Jeff Cariaso, Rency Bajar, John Ferriols, Junjun Cabatu, JR Quinahan, Reynel Hugnatan, Eddie Laure, Sonny Thoss, Mike Cortez, Tony Dela Cruz, Aaron Aban, Ken Bono and Poch Juinio.

Also present were trainers Gus Vargas and Mike Braga and liaison officer Monch Gavieres.

Lastimosa and the players spoke separately to the teenagers to tell them the importance of discipline, hard work and perseverance to be successful in life.

“Ikaw lang ang magdedesisyon na gusto mong magbago. Ikaw lang ang magsasabi kung gusto mong maging disiplinado,” said Lastimosa who drew from his personal experiences for anecdotes which can serve as life lessons to the teenagers.

The school for boys housed close to two hundred teenagers. To simulate school conditions as closely as possible the boys attended high school at the Jose Fabella Memorial School where they interacted with female students.

The boys were taught not only school lessons but to also learn to live harmoniously in a community. They not only studied a specially prepared curriculum for them they were also made to do house chores, learn a trade and work in the yard to garden and plant.

The school was a good two hours drive from Manila via the MariLaQui Road which passed through Antipolo but bypassed the other towns in Rizal like Teresa, Morong, Cardona and Baras.

The Aces came in one bus and were welcomed warmly by students, school officials as well as visitors and onlookers alike who clapped enthusiastically when they arrived at the school.

The players and the coaching staff told the teenagers to follow their example and work hard to become successful in life.

Lastimosa also recounted why he was nicknamed Jolas. He said that when he first became a member of the national team he had another teammate with the same first name Jojo Villapando.

So when their coach called for Jojo two players always came forward. To solve the mix-up he was called Jolas while his teammate was called Jopan. After the stint with the national team the name Jolas stuck to him, while Villapando returned to being just Jojo.