PBC disowns Amano

In the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) payroll, there are 20 foreign coaches earning a total monthly salary of $34,300 or the equivalent of about P1.77 Million plus allowances of close to P200,000.

Included in the list is Madoka Amano — one of five foreigners pocketing $2,500 a month in addition to an allowance of P5,000 for utilities and another P5,000 for transportation. Amano and four others in his pay bracket are the PSC’s highest-paid foreign coaches.

Amano is identified as a bowling coach.

But in a letter to The STAR, Philippine Bowling Congress (PBC) secretary-general Dr. Danny Santos said "Amano is no part of our coaching staff nor is he associated in any way with the PBC."

Strange but true. Amano does no work for the National Sports Association (NSA) in bowling but just the same, is paid a princely sum by the PSC.

"As far as we know, it was the PSC that employed Mr. Amano," continued Santos. "Our coaching staff consists of head coach Johnson Cheng, foreign coach Purvis Granger and two more assistant coaches. Purvis Granger joined the coaching staff last June upon the recommen-dation of the head coach. He was a pro bowler in the US and was formerly the coach of the Hong Kong team where he coached the team to winning medals in the East Asian Games, the Asian Games and other important international tournaments. He is an expert bowl driller and has excellent technical know-how which have benefited the Philippine national bowling team especially in the recently concluded Southeast Asian Games where we won four gold medals, six silver medals, and a bronze medal. The Philippine bowling team has also been winning several international tournaments which could be attributed to the successful program of the head coach who has been coaching the team since last year."

So where does Amano figure in the bowling landscape?

Santos said Amano’s work is not coordinated with the PBC. He mentioned that from what he knows, Amano is helping out in a grassroots program for bowling but it’s strictly a PSC project.

"I don’t think Mr. Amano was even in the recent Southeast Asian Games," added Santos. "The PBC has no knowledge of what he does."

Yet Amano receives a nice, fat salary.

Confused, I asked PSC Commissioner Richie Garcia what the score on Amano was.

Garcia confirmed that Amano is in the PSC payroll and isn’t linked to the PBC. He said Amano, a Japanese, was a former national coach and has lived here for years. The PSC’s Eddie Pacheco, a former Olympian, added that Amano is no shadowy figure — they’ve even played bowling together.

"The PSC contracted Amano to develop a grassroots program for bowling," explained Garcia. "Right now, he’s training about 80 kids from eight to 12 years old, all from Metro Manila. But he’s organizing programs in Bacolod, Cebu and Davao, too. It’s similar to our contract with Marat (Ata Niazov) of shooting. Marat isn’t under the NSA in shooting. He’s a PSC coach assigned to formulate a grassroots program in shooting."

I’m sure the PSC means well in planning for the future of bowling and shooting. Since there is constant pressure on NSAs to develop elite athletes, there is a tendency to relegate the development of a grassroots program to a low priority. That’s probably why the PSC is stepping in to push for grassroots programs in bowling and shooting, two medal-rich sports.

Purists may argue that the PSC has no business getting involved in actual projects. It’s supposed to be a government agency that channels funds from the public sector to the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the NSAs and monitors how the money is spent. But who can blame the PSC for trying to do a little bit more for sports?

Perhaps, to avoid conflicts or misinterpretations, the PSC could make sure its foreign coaches assigned to develop grassroots programs are coordinated with the NSAs in their sports. That way, the PBC, for instance, won’t disown Amano as a complete stranger even if he’s a legitimate foreign coach tasked to look into the future of bowling.