A TOTAL of 144 Filipino para athletes will vie in the Asean Para Games scheduled July 30 to August 6 in Surakarta, Indonesia. It will be the first international competition amid the pandemic for the Filipino para athletes, who were limited to online training the past two years. “The important thing is to evaluate the performance of our athletes after having been out of competition for a long time,” para athletics coach Joel Deriada told Tuesday’s online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum. “They’re all hungry for competition and eager to bring honor to the country.” Swimmer Ernie Gawila…