TOKYO - Emily is one of several Olympic staffers wrapped in blue PPEs guiding arriving athletes, coaches, officials and mediamen through the maze-like screening and accreditation process at Narita airport on Wednesday.
Emily, 21, is a Filipino-Japanese who came home to her father's homeland to work after earning a degree in Manila. She holds so much pride in her Filipino roots that she would want nothing more than to cheer for our athletes at the Tokyo Olympics.
Problem is, she cannot.
Like all fans both local and foreign, Emily and the thousands of Filipino migrants in this city will not have access to any of the Olympic games and festivities from the opening ceremonies on Friday at the New National Stadium.
Covid-19 cases that remained high despite a national emergency that had been in place for months now and an aggressive, last-ditch vaccine rollout, made sure of that.
That is quite a bummer for the Philippine contingent, which, under normal circumstances, could've counted on an army of migrants to cheer each of the 19 Filipino athletes competing in the many Olympic battlefields over the next fortnight.
The most recent survey put the Filipino migrant population here at 325,000, the third highest along with the Vietnamese. Not a single one will get to see the action, except perhaps for the lucky few who became part of the more than 80,000 volunteers tapped for this quadrennial conclave.
No reunion for Petecio and her Japan-based relatives
No one is more disappointed by the absence of fans than Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio, who for years had been dreaming about fighting in the Olympics with her many Japan-based relatives in attendance.
Petecio put close family and kin based in this city at more than 30, Not a single one will be around when amateur boxing's No. 7 ranked female fighter in the world begins her quest for gold on Saturday.
The same holds true for golfer Yuka Saso and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, two Fil-Japanese hopefuls whose families are based in Japan.
Philippine embassy staff Richard Roldan said a large Filipino community is based in Tokyo and neighboring cities, and most have the means to get hold of tickets had these been made available to the public.
Lawyer Billy Sumagui, covid liason officer of the Philippine delegation, said they had purchased a lot tickets way in advance, supposedly to be handed to the embassy for distribution to the Filipino community.
"Sayang, marami rin sana gustong manood," Roldan said.
Instead the task of cheering for the intrepid Filipino athletes now fall in the hands of a small delegation made up of top sports officials, diplomats and support staff led by POC president Bambol Tolentino and PSC chairman Butch Ramirez.
Tolentino is dressed for the part, arriving in Japan in full battle gear including a pair of Yeezy sneakers hand-painted in the Philippine colors by his daughter Athena.
Look:
Tolentino also hopes a Philippine flag will be seen in the stands when a six-man contingent takes part in the marchpast during the opening ceremonies.
On Friday, as rower Cris Nievarez got the Philippine medal bid going in the single sculls preliminaries in rowing, Tolentino started the day with a fervent prayer for a delegation waging battle in two fronts - against Covid and against the actual competition.
"Let us start our day with a deep prayer for the safety of our delegation," he said. "When you step to start the medal conquest, we give it all for the Glory of God, everything else will follow. We are Team Philippines. We are one."
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