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By Rene Q. Bas, Editor in Chief
Some Filipinos have judged Philippine sports today as absolutely
zero—judging from the fact that since 1996, when Onyok Velasco got
a silver, we have won no Olympic medals except in exhibition or
demonstration sports, like wushu.
Neither have we fared well in the Asian Games.
And no matter how we brag about our triumphs in
the Southeast Asian Games—as Frank Calapre writes in “Does RP
have a sports dev’t program? No!”—these medals are really
symbols of mediocrity because the bar is not high enough in SEAG to
hone an athlete’s cutting edge for championship in the Asian Games
and the Olympics.
Most knowledgeable observers of the Philippine
sports scene say that the management of sports development is in bad
hands or in the hands of good people who are either not applying
themselves to the task they must do or are just treating it as a
hobby.
In their day-to-day effort to gather news
stories from the various sport-sector heads, our sports reporters
and correspondents have to spend hours trying to locate the heads of
most National Sport Associations. The big wigs—including
Philippine Olympic Committee boss Jose “Peping” Cojuangco and
PSC Chairman William Ramirez—are very hard to find.
Right after coming back home from the Beijing
Olympics last month, the head of the country’s official “sports
governing body,” Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William
“Butch” Ramirez said he was accepting all the blame for the
dismal Philippine performance but immediately passed on the blame to
one of the sources of PSC funding: the Philippine Amusement and
Gaming Corporation (Pagcor). He said Pagcor had not been giving PSC
the correct amount of money it should remit to the sports body.
The PSC needs the money to be able to fund the
needs of the various national sports associations (NSAs) for the
athlete’s training and participation in local, regional and
international competition.
To this accusation, the Pagcor quickly threw a
challenge and a denial: We have been giving PSC the adequate amount
of money. The Commission on Audit should probe how the PSC is using
its money from Pagcor.
Later, in an interview with The Manila Times for
this special report, Chairman Ramirez admitted that Philippine
sports is sick. What PSC needs to do to nurse it back to health is
to revive the Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) which would be
PSC’s great vehicle for “a long-term program for sports
development, the proper prescription to improve the ailing condition
of local sports.” (See “PSC chief admits RP sports is sick,
needs Sports Institute.”)
Former President Fidel V. Ramos, who told The
Times exactly what ought to be done, initiated the PSI. He knows.
Because during his time Philippine sports was riding high.
He does not agree with those who say “lack of
funds” is responsible for “Team Philippines’ big fat zero
these past 12 years.” FVR says Rep. Monico Puentebella, who headed
the Philippine Mission to the Beijing Olympics, is only “partly
correct” in saying that “The biggest problem has always been the
budget…and the solution is for [the athletes and the sports
associations] to have the proper budget.”
To the former president, money is only a part of
the really big national problem: we have abandoned the proper
national sports development program that the Ramos administration
initiated and which yielded great results for the country’s
international sports performance.
FVR issued two executive orders. These two EOs
mandated the implementation of “the strategic, long-term ‘Sports
for All’ program.”
This has been among the mothballed items of the
Philippine Sports Commission. The PSC chairman from 1992 to 1993,
Aparicio Mequi, developed it.
The former president explains that the “SFA
was focused on mass-based sports. Physical fitness and teamwork were
emphasized. Government departments were given specific
responsibilities. The DECS [now DepEd] would take care of physical
education and school sports. The DILG/LGUs were responsible for
community-based sports. DND/AFP/PNP were to take care of sports
among the military branches. DOLE/Civil Service Commission were
responsible for sports in the labor sector and among unions and
associations. The Philippine Olympic Committee and National Sports
Associations were to handle “elite sports”—those that required
expensive training and equipment. The Games and Amusement Board [now
Pagcor] was responsible for professional sports.”
“Under my direction the strategic blueprint
was prepared and refined by the PSC, principally under Chairman
Philip Juico. The essential program components were identified,
established, coordinated, enhanced, and activated,” he added.
(Concluded tomorrow)
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