Tolentino hails inclusion of hurdlers Tolentino and Hoffman to Team PH; calls on public to support Gilas' journey to qualify for the Olympics

Senate Majority Leader Francis 'Tol' Tolentino has expressed elation over the forthcoming inclusion of hurdlers John Cabang Tolentino and Lauren Hoffman to the Philippine Team that will compete in the Paris Olympics later this month.

At the same time, the senator called on Filipinos to support athletes still fighting for a spot in the prestigious sports event. They include the Gilas Men's Basketball Team, which he said will face tough opponents in the FIBA Paris Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Riga, Latvia this week.

"Our hurdlers John Cabang Tolentino and Lauren Hoffman, are expected to officially qualify for the Olympics, while sprinters Kristina Knott and Eric Cray still have a chance to make it. This is an encouraging development for athletics," said Tolentino, an avid supporter of Philippine sports.

"I'm sure many Filipinos will stay up late to follow the games of Gilas Pilipinas against Latvia, and then Georgia, in the FIBA OQT. We really need to continue to support our athletes," he added, during his interview with Richard Bachmann, who chairs the Philippine Sports Commission PSC) on the senator's morning show 'Usapang Tol.'

John Cabang Tolentino, the Asian Indoor Athletics bronze medalist, and Hoffman, who recently broke the 17-year national record in the women's 100-meter hurdles, are already considered 'shoo-ins' for Paris due to their high global ranking, according to the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA). World Athletics will officially announce all the Olympic qualifiers on July 7.

Finally, the senator commended Bachmann for the PSC's support to the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) Games, the Mindanao leg of which was successfully conducted last week in Zamboanga.

"Just like Tolentino and Cabang, we see young local talents emerging in the regions in chess, kickboxing, sepak takraw, and other sports. I thank the PSC for backing the ROTC Games," the senator told Bachmann.