Empty handed at the Olympics… Again (Conclusion)

Why are we always dreaming of winning what we can’t win? On the other hand, why isn’t government and the private sector serious in supporting our sports programs? When I began reporting back in the 80s, this was already the issue with sports. Time and again we’ve proven we can develop good athletes. But while we have produced inventors, singers, actors, graphics artists, fashion designers who make their mark on the world map, Filipinos, aside from boxing’s Manny Pacquiao, can’t seem to make a lasting mark in world sports history.

There has never been a true accounting of just how much the government has spent to train our athletes, as opposed to the large sums that American, Chinese or Japanese athletes receive as allowances and funds for training. Case in point: A Class A athlete in this country, similar to a Manny Pacquiao when he was starting out, receives around P10,000 a month for allowances. That’s basic grocery money. An athlete’s diet is totally different from us couch potatoes. Have you heard about American swimming phenom Michael Phelp’s breakfast? Three egg salad sandwiches, a 5-egg omelet, three chocolate chip pancakes, a bowl of oatmeal, three French toasts, and two cups of black coffee. A breakfast of champions, with a bill to boot.  If hundreds of thousands of pesos are spent on a race horse’s maintainance, why can’t that much be spent on an athlete? Putting Butch Ramirez as the head of the Philippine Sports Commission in 2005 was a good move. He fought for an increase in the monthly allowances of athletes, even if for only a few thousand pesos each. Of course, it is not enough, or even near enough. So athletes have to earn for their training funds and equipment, not to mention for their livelihood and families. This distracts them from a good training regimen.

According to an existing Executive Order, PAGCOR is supposed to remit 5% of its gross monthly revenue into a National Sports Development Fund, specifically to support our athletes. But according to PSC officials, PAGCOR only remits half of the mandated amount, and they have for the longest time been asking for the other half. Why?  Is the other half invested in a term deposit somewhere, earning interest before it is disbursed? Is the President even aware of this? She should be. And if PGMA does know, what right does the Chief Executive have in attending the Beijing Olympics, smiling and waving, knowing all too well that the very athletes she is supposed to be rooting for are literally being robbed of their funds— funds that are supposed to make them “stronger, faster, better”. The PAGCOR, government,  is breaking the law. And it sheds crocodile tears at our athletes’ dismal performance at this year’s Olympics.

Under Butch Ramirez’ leadership of the PSC, the Philippines became the overall champion in the 2005 SEA Games held here. To quote a slogan of a famous brand, “we can do it!” If we can be the best in Southeast Asia, why not the rest of Asia, and the whole world? Ramirez is bent on sending our athletes abroad to train. Sadly, we don’t have the support of government like Chinese and Australian athletes do, nor the support of the private sector like American athletes do. What we have in the Philippines is a passing of responsibility between government and the private sector — who really foots the bills.

It is clear that government is not at all serious in developing sports programs in the country. I say, enough of their pretense. And enough of their hope that, one day, another living legend like Manny Pacquiao will emerge and once again, rekindle hopes of winning that holiest of grails in sports. With a government like ours, Manny is a first, if not the last of his breed.