Saitama Seibu Lions Donates Baseball Equipment to Filipino Children in Pangasinan
Ambassador Manuel M. Lopez (right) and Saitama Seibu Lions President Hajime Igo with samples of baseball equipment to be donated to the children of Pangasinan
Representatives of the Saitama Seibu Lions Baseball Club led by its President, Mr. Hajime Igo, called on Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel M. Lopez at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo on 18 September 2014 to report on their donation of 5,717 pieces of baseball equipment including bats, gloves, helmets and balls to children of Pangasinan Province through the YMCA Pangasinan.
Mr. Igo said that the Saitama Seibu Lions Baseball Club, as part of its corporate social responsibility program, held a charity campaign to gather baseball equipment that are not used anymore by Japanese children.
Ambassador Manuel M. Lopez, Minister Angelica C. Escalona and Vice Consul Dominic Xavier M. Imperial of the Philippine Embassy with Saitama Seibu Lions Baseball Club representatives led by President Hajime Igo
Seibu Lions decided to give the donated equipment to the Philippines due to the resurging popularity of baseball among Filipinos. The renaissance of this sport saw the Philippine Baseball Team participating in the World Baseball Classic for the first time in 2013.
With the cooperation of the Saitama International Friendship Exchange Association and the YMCA Saitama, the baseball equipment will be shipped to the Philippines on 30 September 2014, to be distributed to 36 children’s baseball teams in Pangasinan by mid-October.
Ambassador Lopez expressed his gratitude for the donation. Noting that baseball was once the most popular sport in the Philippines, he expressed the hope that baseball will once again be one of the top sports in the country.
