Courtesy resignations in order after debacle

Surely, there must be accountability for the country’s embarrassing performance at the recent Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia. A debacle of this magnitude can’t be ignored and should provoke a serious rethinking of how underachieving National Sports Associations (NSAs) are being managed.

For too long, several NSA officials have made freeloading an art form. Instead of looking out for athletes under their care, they wallow in largesse to enjoy free travel, privileges and perks. That’s why it’s difficult to convince these officials to let go because they never had it so good – unfortunately, at the athletes’ expense. They fight tooth and nail to preserve their domain, never mind if the NSAs are poor performers. 

In Indonesia, the Philippines could bag only 36 gold medals of 554 at stake, a dismal 6.5 percent share, to fall to sixth spot among 11 nations. It’s the leanest harvest for the country since collecting 31 golds for a 5.1 percent slice in Malaysia in 2001. The Philippines sent 512 athletes, nearly 100 more than fifth placer Singapore. 

What a far cry from when the Philippines topped the medal standings in 2005, only six years ago, with 113 of 444 gold medals on the line, a 25.5 percent share. Thailand was a distant second with 87 golds.

Taekwondo and boxing led the charge with four golds apiece in this year’s SEA Games. The former world champion poomsae all-female team of Rani Ann Ortega, Janice Lagman and Camille Alarilla hit paydirt once more. Jins Japoy Lizardo, Kirstie Elaine Alora and Camille Manalo also picked up golds. In boxing, the gold medalists were pinweight Josie Gabuco, lightflyweight Alice Kate Aparri, lightweight Charly Suarez and lightwelterweight Dennis Galvan. Sports where the Philippines failed to secure a gold included karate, weightlifting, sailing, golf, water polo, soft tennis, sepak takraw and table tennis.

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In 2009, boxing brought in five golds and taekwondo, four. Athletics garnered seven golds and swimming, four. This year, athletics contributed only two of 46 gold medals at stake and swimming went zero of 38. Between the two compulsory Olympic sports, the Philippines missed out on 82 gold medals. In 2005 when the Philippines hosted the SEA Games, taekwondo had six golds and boxing, eight. Aquatics and athletics combined for 18.

The Philippines also placed sixth in 2007 when Thailand hosted but had a slightly higher share of the gold medals with 8.6 percent compared to this year’s 6.5 percent. In absolute terms, the Philippines took 41 of 476 golds.

Since 1991, the Philippines has finished first once, second once, third twice, fourth twice, fifth thrice and sixth twice. In sequential order, the gold medal haul has gone from 90 to 57 to 33 to 43 to 20 to 31 to 49 to 113 to 41 to 38 to 36. The 20 gold medal collection came in 1999 in Brunei where only 234 gold medals were up for grabs. In 1997, the Philippines finished fourth with 43 of 482 gold medals but registered only a 6.3 percent cut.

In 2009, the Philippines claimed 38 gold medals even as the Laos calendar excluded baseball, basketball, dancesport, arnis, fencing, traditional boat race and canoe/kayak. If some of those sports were in the grid, the Philippines would’ve gone beyond 40 – which paints an even more dismal picture of the performance this year.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Richie Garcia predicted at least 70 gold medals for the country in Indonesia and is being castigated in media for the high expectation. Personally, I don’t think Garcia should be pilloried for rating the Filipino athletes highly. Unluckily, the harvest went way below Garcia’s number.

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What went wrong? Political squabbles in NSAs certainly contributed to the disaster, leaving athletes demoralized and disillusioned. Lack of funding was evident as some athletes paid their own way to compete. If the PSC only received five percent of Pagcor’s gross revenues as mandated by law, its annual budget would be P1.3 Billion not P600 Million. With more funding, athletes could’ve gained invaluable experience competing overseas and learned from foreign coaches who would’ve been hired.

After every slip-up in the SEA Games, Asian Games or Olympics, there is public clamor for a leadership change in non-performing NSAs. Officials typically vow to get back on track and justify another stay of duty. Sooner or later, everyone forgets about the debacle and nothing is done to alter the course of Philippine sports.

Is there hope for the future? This year, the harmonious partnership between the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and PSC has brought about a sports landscape that is now the backdrop of a comprehensive development program from the grassroots to elite level. The Philippine National Games, Palarong Pambansa and Batang Pinoy are back on schedule and the country should reap the benefits of those programs in future SEA Games, Asian Games and Olympics.

For the moment, every NSA president should submit his or her courtesy resignation if only to prove nobody is indispensible and to show accountability. The POC and PSC should evaluate the performance of each NSA then decide whether or not to accept resignations. The recent Indonesia tragedy must be addressed with all seriousness. The time to forgive and forget is over.