Laguna town to ban child boxing after injury in 'fight club' event

They all want to be like Manny. In Laguna, a brutal boxing contest for adolescent boys was recently caught on camera and televised. The video shows youngsters competing in the middle of the road, wearing boxing gloves but without safety gear. A barangay ordinance seeks to ban "fight club" events after one fight in Brgy. Sto. Niño in San Pedro, Laguna left a boy with an injured arm. “Hindi ko po kasi alam. Huli na nung sinabi sa akin na boksingero daw ‘yung nakalaban ko. Dapat daw po di ko raw po nilabanan,” the injured boy said in a report aired on GMA’s “24 Oras." The incident prompted local officials to ban amateur boxing in their jurisdiction. “Naging eye-opener po talaga itong nangyaring ito at hihikayatin na rin po namin ‘yung ibang mga barangay at mga bayan na magkaroon din po sana ng isa ring ordinansa para po sa kapakanan ng ating mga kabataan,” Barangay Chairman Napoleon Islan said. Meanwhile, the event organizer has apologized to the young boy and his family, vowing to scrap amateur boxing. “Katuwaan lang naman para mabigyan ng kasiyahan ‘yung mga manonood. Para dun sa bata na nasaktan sa palaro namin at sa mga magulang niya, humihingi po ang grupo ng kapatawaran para sa pagkukulang po ng grupo namin. At pinapangako po na hindi na po mauulit ‘yun at wala na pong susunod dun na mangyayaring ganun,” he said. In the championship years of Manny Pacquiao, boys and girls across the Philippines have taken up boxing, often with the dream of fighting themselves and their families out of poverty. But can this violent and often bloody sport be safe for children? The Philippine medical establishment has not taken a stand. The Department of Education has even included it in the Palarong Pambansa. But the American Academy of Pediatrics has staunchly opposed child boxing. In its policy statement in 2011, the doctors stated, “[We] recommend that physicians vigorously oppose boxing in youth and encourage patients to participate in alternative sports in which intentional head blows are not central to the sport." It explained that the blows to the head and face may cause concussions, which may develop into “chronic and even fatal neurologic injuries.” “Although boxing provides benefits for participants, including exercise, self-discipline, and self-confidence, the sport of boxing encourages and rewards deliberate blows to the head and face,” it added. - RAF/KDM/HS/KG, GMA News