The Golf

The  Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) played host to a fund-raising friendly round of golf dubbed as “Friends of Coast Guard, Golf for a Cause” last Nov. 15, 2001 at the Orchard Golf and Country Club in Dasmarinas, Cavite.
According to Vice Admiral Reuben S. Lista, the golf tournament was held to raise funds for the purchase of K-9 dogs for the  Philippine Ports Authority and PCG. Held on Lista’s birthday, the tournament attracted more than 80 golf enthusiasts coming from the different areas of the maritime sector. “We intend to form a mutual canine dog unit of the PPA and PCG,” Lista said.  
Lista said that the K-9 dogs were purchased by the PPA and trained in sniffing and sensing bombs, harmful chemicals, drugs and deadly firearms to protect passengers and enhance maritime security.These security measures were in consonance with the global trend to thwart terrorism from the public.Lista likewise said that a PCG special operations Group, together with the police unit of the PPA, is tasked to train and maintain these special K-9.
“This is also the very reason why he asked the different golf organizations to provide seed resources to maintain this special unit excluded from the approved PCG budget,” Lista added.
The golf tournament, which teed off at exactly 7:00 in the morning, was a brainchild of Lista himself and supported by the different maritime golf organization and organized by Captain Rosendo Roque, Commodore Athelo Ybanez and LTJG Troy Cornelia.Other sponsors include Petronade Phil. Inc., Herma Shipping and Transport Corp., Eduardo and Marissa Alvarez, Orix Metro Leasing and Finance Corp., PCGA Lighterage Corp., Joe Baltazar of the 126 Squadron, MIS Maritime Corp., Kaizen Export and Import Business, Bombardier, Harbor Star, Tenix Phil. Inc., Jeffrey Cheng, Sulpicio Lines, Capt. Nieto, Ruben Lista Jr., among others who gave donations for door and raffle prizes. 
              Lisha also extended his warmest thanks to the sponsors and organizers who made the tournament a success during the awarding ceremonies which was held at the Dean Conrado Benitez Hall in Orchard Golf Course. Eng r. Nelson Ramirez said that fund-raiser of a birthday was a noble way of serving the public of PEG.“It  was very noble for Vice Admiral Lista to conduct a fund-raising on his birthday for a noble project and make the birthday gift givers donors to a noble cause like the creation of a canine unit,” Ramirez explained.
He said that in this kind of tournament, everybody wins, even the public who will be served by the purpose.