3 Pinoys chosen to join Olympic torch relay in Beijing

MANILA, Philippines – Three Filipinos have been chosen to join the torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Department of Foreign Affairs got this report on Wednesday from Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Cataumber Brady. The Olympic torchbearers are CNN Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz, his 17-year-old daughter Michelle FlorCruz, and marketing executive Marco Torres. "It's a great honor for the Philippines to be represented in the Olympic torch relay through Jimmy, Michelle, and Marco," Brady said. "We also hope that during the Beijing Olympics, we will finally win our very first Olympic gold medal." FlorCruz and daughter Michelle were selected by the Beijing City government for their contribution to China, Brady said. A former Time magazine Beijing bureau chief, FlorCruz first arrived in Beijing in August 1971. He was one of the 15 Filipino youths who were invited by the China Friendship Association for a three-week study tour. He said that by a strange quirk of fate, he stayed on – and has been there for 37 years later. "I covered the 1988 Seoul Olympics for TIME Magazine and Sports Illustrated," FlorCruz said." Now I am looking forward to covering the Beijing Games as well, this time as CNN's Beijing bureau chief. It would be fun not just to report on it but to actually participate as one of the torch bearers during the relay." FlorCruz is scheduled to carry the Olympic torch on August 6 in Beijing, two days before the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. His daughter Michelle, a student at the International School in Beijing, will carry the Olympic torch on August 3 in Tangshan City. "I was made in China, born in the Philippines, and bred in Beijing," Michelle said. "I guess that makes me a top quality product, a fusion of different cultures." Torres, 38, will carry the Olympic torch on July 5 in Lanzhou, Gansu province. He placed second among eight foreigners selected by an Olympic sponsor company to carry the Olympic torch through an Internet voting competition called "Expats for Olympic Torchbearers" held last year. "I love Beijing and I love the Olympics," Torres said. "Proof of this is that I declined an opportunity to move to Shanghai if only for the Olympics. I also know now that my destiny of being in the Olympics will be fulfilled." About half million visitors are expected to come to Beijing in August for the Olympics, including 10,500 international athletes and 18,000 journalists. - GMANews.TV