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By Bong Pedralvez, Sports Subeditor
Second of two parts
Despite age-old facilities, outdated equipment
and dismal quarters, Filipino athletes are under more pressure than
ever before to succeed when the 23rd Southeast Asian Games start in
the last week of November in Manila, Subic, Cebu and Bacolod.
The Philippine Olympic Committee, the PSC and
the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee all hope the national
team will equal, if not surpass, the 91 gold medals the country won
the last time it hosted the biennial meet in 1991—a medal total
that has declined steadily to a low of 20 golds in the 1999 SEAG in
Brunei.
The worsening performance of Filipino athletes,
actually, is tied to the drop in financial assistance to national
sports associations from both the government and the private sector.
The “godfather” system, which paired corporate sponsors with
athletes or teams, worked well under the government-backed Project:
Gintong Alay but virtually saw its end when the People Power
Revolution toppled the Marcos dictatorship in 1986.
Since then athletes have had to rely on the
National Sports Development Fund, financed primarily by the
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Philippine Charity
Sweepstakes Office, which reaches an average of P450 million yearly.
Divided equally among 700 athletes, the sports
fund would give each team member just P640,000 annually—an amount
barely enough to cover the expenses of a single athlete going to an
international event to get exposure against world-class competition.
The PSC, which manages the national sports fund,
could not be expected to give athletes additional allowances because
its budget, sourced from the national appropriations—P104 million
in the past 3 years—is hardly sufficient to cover its own
operating expenses.
Past administrations of the sports commission,
predictably, have turned to the private sector for help. This year
the PSC, through the First Gentleman Foundation of President
Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, has raised P250 million for
the athletes’ training expenses from the corporate giants San
Miguel Corp. and Globe Telecommunications.
But even with the money from outside of
government, no funds have been put into building new facilities for
the national team. The PSC would sometimes order an occasional
renovation to a certain venue like the Rizal Memorial track and
field oval—but only because the Philippines would be hosting an
international event such as the Asian Athletics Championships.
Managing with facilities
Filipino athletes, however, have learned to make
do with the equipment and facilities they have. Dax Morfe, 28,
captain of the Philippine tae kwon do team, said he is not affected
despite the meager services at his disposal.
“For training purposes we can manage. We’ve
been dealing with these facilities ever since we started,” said
Morfe, whose team delivered 5 gold, 3 silver and six bronze medals
in the 2003 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.
“But for international tournaments like the
coming SEA Games, we really need to provide the infrastructure in
terms of facilities and equipment in the sports/medical building.
It’s all very rusty and still can be used, but we could really use
something new.”
Stephen Fernandez, head coach of the tae kwon do
team, agrees with Morfe—and believes the Philippines will always
be playing catch-up with other Southeast Asian nations that have
poured vast resources into their athletic armies.
“Every year new equipment is coming out, but
we can’t keep up due to the limitations of the budget. We still
make do, however, and the PSC is trying its best to help our
athletes in tae kwon do,” Fernandez said.
Meanwhile, transferring from the Rizal Memorial
to better quarters would certainly be welcome news for the national
wrestler Louis Ansag. With the members of the developmental
squad—two of them his siblings—he is forced to live in a shabby
area that looks more like an abandoned warehouse. It is located on
the ground floor of the Rizal baseball park, on the same premises
where the well-maintained gyms of the tae kwon do bets are.
You enter the wrestlers’ room through a small
door—and the first thing that greets you is the stink from the
open toilet as you pass through. A heavy-duty fan serves as the only
means of ventilation; that and a gaping hole the size of a big
window on one of its walls. With the sweltering summer heat, the
poorly ventilated room is as close to a furnace as one can get.
The planks on the wooden floor are also eaten
through. Instead of beds, athletes sleep on rubber mats, which,
because they are well worn, are now infested with lice. “Sinusurot
na nga kami rito, pero wala kaming magawa [We are often attacked by
lice, but there is nothing we can do],” Ansag, an Airman First
Class, said.
The room used to be one of the national
wrestling team’s practice gyms before it was converted to
accommodate the developmental team. Ansag, who won a bronze medal in
the Vietnam SEA Games, has younger twin brothers Lendio and Glen
living with him in the room.
Being the eldest among the three Cebuano
siblings, Ansag said, he has to stay and look after them, although
he could have better quarters as a regular national team member.
Ironically, the place is just a stone’s throw from the PSC
administration building.
“When PSC chairman Eric Buhain was appointed
in 2002, he visited this room and promised to do something about it.
Last year he also made a second visit. Nothing happened,” Ansag
said. “Alam na ni OIC [Ramirez] ito. [OIC Ramirez is aware of our
situation].”
“You’ve seen how horrible the wrestling
quarters are; that is why the wrestlers will be among the first to
be moved out,” Ramirez said.
‘Dangerous environment’
Besides the dismal quarters at the complex, an
even graver concern of sports leaders is the “dangerous
environment” posed by some establishments that have leased spaces
at the Rizal Memorial—the bars and restaurants offering beer and
alcoholic drinks and occupying space at the track and football
stadium. As if the Harrison Plaza mall, a walking distance from the
sports complex, was not enough to provide distractions for the
athletes.
“As long as these establishments are around,
the Rizal Memorial’s environment won’t be conducive to our
athletes’ training. They will always be open to temptation,”
Jaylo, the judo chief, said.
Gen. Mario Tanchanco, sepak takraw head, noted
that most of his athletes are enlisted personnel who come mostly
from the province. “How can you stop them from going to these beer
places when it is right here at the Rizal Memorial? Mahirap mo
silang maawat [It would be difficult to stop them].”
Benjie Ramos, the head of rowing, agrees with
Tanchanco. Ramos’s athletes, however, are fortunately quartered at
the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City, where the rowers train daily.
Guillermo Iroy Jr., the new PSC executive
director, said the commission is looking into the leases of the bars
and restaurants, but admitted that its hands are tied if their
contracts are legitimate.
“Some of them were able to renew their
contracts just before Ramirez was appointed,” Iroy said.
--With reports from Justin Orbien, Ryan Certeza, Kristine Ching
and Kim Detera
Part 1 |
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