Illustration by Louise Abing
Sporting events are known for evoking a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings, encompassing moments of elation, disappointment, and intense competition, especially when athletes endeavor to bring home the gold for their respective colleges during the Mindanao State University - General Santos City’s Intramurals 2023. The incident that occurred during the swimming tournament, sparked by a post made by the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) swimmer and student-athlete Robert Lavente, demonstrated how social media can amplify and magnify these emotions. Lavente's status prodded the attention of the Sports Development Office (SDO) after the Facebook status was delivered straight on the table by the student publication through its daily newsletter. However, this swift dissemination of information also led to a gust of miscommunication, creating a challenging situation for all parties involved, who were in deep water in establishing a clear line of communication and understanding.
In times of heated moments brought about by an intense desire to win, one’s uncontrolled emotions certainly counteract the force that keeps us grounded in professionalism and sportsmanship. Lavente’s now-taken-down Facebook status caused controversy, a few minutes after it was posted on October 3, as he expressed his disappointment towards the management for hiring technical officials, claiming that they were “not knowledgeable enough” with the sport. Howbeit, on the SDO’s defense, they assured that the tournament managers of the competition were of national licenses, high credentials, and experiences which conclusively make them credible enough to officiate and facilitate the said event; thus shedding a bad light on Lavente’s end for his temperamental claims.
In an interview with Bagwis, the swimmer admitted that his decision to publicize the issue on social media was driven by his prevailing emotions due to the disqualification call by the officials and felt that their hard work and sacrifices instantly went down the drain. He stated, “Gi-raise lang man namin siya ang concern out of too much emotions then nadala jud mi kay kumbaga, as a swimmer, dignity namo ang nakasasalalay. Nadawat nako if na-second [place] ko, or 3rd, 4th, 5th, or last pa jud, pero when you say kasi na the disqualification, pangit siya in a sense na since elementary up to college, or almost entire life na ako naga-swim.” His opinion is valid, for it is his right to express his concern over the call. Yet, his action, when weighed in, may not be tantamount to the consequences it has propelled to the sporting event, specifically after his disclosure through the mediascape. In fact, as clarified by the SDO, the matter of Lavente’s disqualification call has already been rightfully and justly resolved long before his Facebook update. After careful deliberation with the athlete, his coach, and the officiating officials, the tournament managers stuck with Lavente’s disqualification, which Lavente, along with his coach, was amenable to. Hence, according to the officials, his Facebook post was an upright disregard for a matter that has already been justly settled.
In the phase of the emotion-driven stream of the issue, Bagwis has decided to keep pace with the momentum as it published straight sports news out of the sentiments of the said student-athlete. Accordingly, the publication’s sports department only intended to deliver what was being presented by Lavente, for which he has also given a green light for broadcast. However, the acceleration of the issue has been seen to switch the supposed trail that it was set to traverse. This led to a dash response from the tournament managers to convene the organization heads with regard to the issue that has lost track. In light of their claim, the student press fell short of considering the side of the tournament managers about their standpoint on the conflict, which in return was recognized and accounted for by the publication. To emphasize, the sports writers acknowledged their unintentional lapse in not getting the viewpoint of the technical officials about the clamor brought by the issue, and they would like to express their sincere apology to the sports organizers.
Despite the assertion, in Lavente’s statement in a follow-up interview pertaining to the write-up, he said, “If you would ask [about] the permission, yes, nag-ano naman ako, nag-oo." This braced the writers’ article to gravitate toward the claims of Lavente’s points, which contrasted with the SDO’s written material addressing that the article is “entirely inaccurate." Bagwis held its ground on reporting the verity of the statement of the student-athlete, both from his Facebook status and interview. At the core of the sports report, the intention is to delineate the case of the story—the angle that highlighted the raised concern of the athlete, hence being deemed “defamatory” by the committee, is unfitting to the article’s intent. Nevertheless, the publication, through its editorial team, settled the line of understanding with the SDO, and on a positive note, they concurred with the discussion last October 9, making both ends meet for amendments.
To instantaneously remedy the deepening situation on hand and reach cessation, Bagwis has invited both parties for an interview last October 6, Day 2 of the Intramurals, one day after the publication’s sports editor and editor-in-chief’s attention was called. After Lavente’s acknowledgment of the issue stemming from sheer emotions and personal disappointments motivated by the disqualification call against him that triggered him to post the said Facebook status, the student-athlete promised to publish a public apology to clear the issue and halt the sensationalization of the issue at hand, to which he has already undertaken last Oct. 10.
On the other end, in a separate interview, the SDO Co-Chair and Officer-in-Charge Maychelou Castillo has cited that the office will never discredit the preparations, efforts, and sacrifices of the athletes and the colleges they represent and further called for responsible utility of freedom of expression and sentiments. Taking time to think, pause for a while, and deliberately contemplate the possible implications to reconsider the actions taken might play an imperative condition in situations where emotions are highly heavy, especially when it concerns not only one’s own interest but also of the other. Moreover, Mr. Castillo called for unity, to work together for the success of this year’s Intramurals and rest assured the student body that the office, along with the management and competent tournament officials, is doing their best to deliver fair calls for all sporting events.
What exactly happened is reminiscent of a dire miscommunication and wrong utility of social media as a platform to voice out sentiments and concerns. While it is a constitutionally-mandated provision that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion, it is also imperative that our opinions never cross the thin line between others’ rights and interests especially when social media, where sentiments are posted for public consumption, is utilized as a platform for these actions. The line of misunderstanding between Bagwis and the SDO is clear, and the publication genuinely pledges to integrate the important role and responsibility of relaying accurate and impartial information to the public in the future.
At the end of the day, we are within one MSU community, bound by one common goal: to celebrate MSU’s 50 years of academic excellence and champion peace and development. And when issues like this just continue as we propel onward to dive into the currents of this year’s intramurals, the very endeavor of the theme would just remain printed on tarpaulins and never manifest on the ground but will just continue to submerge in deep water.
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