Does the government care?

In two days’ time, the nation will vote its next set of leaders. It has become a matter to be decided by personalities and machinery, as usual. But among the issues buried in the hustings is what the government’s true policy on sports, fitness and health really is. In this regard, the records of the executive and legislative branches of our government bear close examination.

In 1990, when then-Senator Joey Lina’s draft creating the Philippine Sports Commission became law, the agency was initially tasked to set directions for government policy regarding sports, primarily to recruit and train elite athletes for international competition. In the fourteen years since its creation, the PSC has been responsible for funding one silver and one bronze medal from the Olympic Games, both in boxing. Prior to that, its predecessor, the old Project: Gintong Alay technically helped win one gold (from Arianne Cerdeña in bowling, though not officially included in the medal standings) and a bronze in boxing (courtesy of Pol Serrantes). The question is: what’s the difference?

Well, the difference was both a more visionary Executive and a more cooperative Congress. As early as the late 1960’s, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos actually commissioned an investigation into the country’s decline in international competition. You see, prior to the Asian Games, the Philippines dominated China, Japan and even Australia in multi-sport competitions like the Far East Games. Gradually, we slipped, and lost our lofty standing. And we have never regained it since.

In those admittedly cheaper times, Congress also supplied the necessary funding for both sports development and international exposure. Expenditure also saw an increase during the time of Pres. Fidel Ramos, who was the embodiment of physical fitness himself.

However, Congress has seen fit to allocate funds to other priorities, and it would be interesting to note which representatives voted to slash our budgets for sports. In addition, the PSC has been saddled with pet projects of certain government agencies or officials that have nothing to do with its original function, such as regional games for children and students. In addition, it is supposed to receive an outlay from PAGCOR. But if you add up all the five percent allocations that PAGCOR is supposed to give to various government agencies, it would probably total more than the gaming entity’s entire revenue. Sometimes, you have to wonder if anyone in Congress carries a calculator, or imagination.

More distressing is the government’s lack of vision when it comes to physical education, fitness and health. The devolution of sports from the Department of Education is a serious blow to our country’s future; we just don’t feel it yet. The United States’ obesity rate is climbing upwards of fifty percent, and many of the prevailing circumstances there are also found in the Philippines: prevalence of fast food restaurants, lack of physical activity among students, and, most telling of all, penetration of fast food and soft drink companies into school cafeterias and other outlets. How many burger joints are within one hundred meters of our children’s schools?

Ironically, with the vacuum in government funding, sports teams (national and commercial) are going to get the money they need to survive from the most ironic sources: fast food and soft drink manufacturers. Again, this is an indictment of the government’s ignorance of what is going on around them. They should watch the news and read the broadsheets: diseases like diabetes are rising sharply not just in the Philippines, but all over Asia.

In some parts of the United States, it has taken parent initiatives to increase their children’s physical activity, and impose the equal exposure of healthier drinks (like water) in school eateries. Some school districts have even constructed buildings to make their high school students walk a minimum of two kilometers a day. And although the multinationals’ sponsorship money is good, schools are often bound into quota arrangements where they have to dispose of certain volumes, or must follow exclusivity arrangements.

So where does the government stand on sports, health and fitness? Where does it stand on the future?

Obviously, our country’s physical well-being is not a priority. More and more children are manifesting signs of heart disease, being overweight, asthma and allergies. These all point to poor diet and lack of physical activity. Ironically, many people who are overweight come from poor areas. There are also cases of persons who look thin on the outside, but have very high body fat, a paradox in our economically strapped society.

So what can the next government do? First of all, unburden the PSC by letting it focus only on developing athletes for international competition. Secondly, give the local governments more muscle in promoting physical fitness, particularly among the jobless and out of school. Third, impose higher standards on schools for physical fitness, starting with the qualifications of PE instructors.

If the government is not careful, we will not only be faced with a succeeding generation of wheezing, overweight, allergy-prone citizens, we will also be taxing them more to pay for health care and missed productivity. It will take a heroic effort to reverse this trend.

Will we vote for the leaders who will reverse this frightening trend? Are there any on your list?

You still have two days to find out. It’s our future.

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Catch Francis Arnaiz, Galen Young, Jenkins Mesina, Bong Ravena and the country’s future sportscasters on this week’s episode of The Basketball Show at 3 p.m. over ABC 5.