WHEN I began covering local football back in 2006, one person who was a source of information was Jack Biantan who even if he was based in London, kept writing about Philippine football from afar.
Biantan previously wrote about football for Sun Star Cebu for nine years after which he moved to London where he lived for 16 years.
Biantan was a pioneer in online publishing about Philippine football for pinoyfootball.com website with USA-based David Palasigue.
‘I fell in love with football while working for the Don Bosco Boys Home in Cebu when I was 18 years old,’ recounted Jack. ‘We had a British priest, Fr. Leonard McManus, who was football mad.’
‘I wanted to be a Salesian priest when I was younger that was why I entered the Don Bosco Missionary Seminary in Lawaan, Talisay, Cebu, a minor seminary. But fate did not turn out my way, and I instead studied Mass Communications at the University of San Jose-Recoletos.’
I struck up a friendship with Jack and we finally met face-to-face in London eight years later in 2014 while on a two-week vacation.
A few years later, Jack returned to Cagayan de Oro where he established a youth football club at Sitio Red Island.
‘I started this project to spread the Gospel of football in the rural barangay of Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, in 2014,’ Biantan said. ‘It’s a club for boys and girls between the age of 8-18 from the Lumbia Market area as well as from Xavier Echo Village, a relocation site built by the Jesuits of Xavier University to house the survivors of the deadly Typhoon Sendong.’
Biantan watched news of the catastrophic typhoon that laid waste to Mindanao December 17, 2011, and killed thousands of residents along the Cagayan River.
‘I was still working in London during that time, and I was gutted by the devastation,’ Biantan explained as he relived the hurt all over again (he hails from CDO). What made me decide to help were the pleas of football-loving kids from Lumbia whom I met online.
During a vacation during the Holiday Season of 2014, Jack saw first-hand the kids’ football pitch with bamboo used for goal posts.’
I met the kids and their leaders, J-Boy Legaspi and Kenneth Ilajas. I donated shoes and jerseys that I collected from my colleagues at my workplace, the North Middlesex University Hospital, in Edmonton, Enfield, London, United Kingdom’
That was the start of the ‘Raptors Project’ that Biantan named after the American stealth fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor.
Today, Lumbia is the site of an airport that is the headquarters of the Philippine Air Force. It will be the future site of an American Air Base once the staff housing is finished.
‘I then adopted the motto ‘Aim for the Sky’ that means ‘in every work we do on and off the pitch or in all our lives, we aim for no less than to be the best.”
Aside from the basic football and futsal skills, just as important and part of their curriculum is etiquette, a good attitude, to study and work hard, and to respect their parents, teachers, and their elders.
‘We also teach them how to pray and to go to Church, and to respect other religions,’ added Jack.
The Lumbia Raptors Club does not charge a single centavo from the kids with all coaches and trainers working as volunteers.
‘We receive funding from my friends and sponsors who share my vision to give these kids better lives and a better future,’ explained Jack.
‘We have extended our services to the local schools, the Lumbia National High School and the Lumbia Elementary School.’
My aim is to give these kids better lives and an opportunity for their future. I also aim to keep these children busy by playing football to avoid vices.’
In its 11 years, the Lumbia Raptors Club has fielded teams in various local competitions in the Men’s Open, Boys 12, Boys 16, Women’s Open and the Girls 17 categories.
‘Our Girls team has been very successful, winning countless football and futsal titles. We have placed second to the formidable Bulua National High School for three years in a row in the CDO Girls Futsal event.’
Biantan cited Jaquilin N. Esteban, a 17-year-old defender, as a success story. The lass was recruited by the National University Lady Bulldogs football team.
Today, aside from the Lumbia Raptors Football Club, Jack keeps busy with Big Jack Productions FB blog.
‘The blog is about the beautiful game, the Lumbia Raptors kids, and enjoying life as I journey to my old age.’