Romero: Let’s solve ailing sports

MANILA, Philippines - The guest of honor in last night’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards Night faced the star-studded crowd and raised the question that’s been asked many times before. “What ails Philippine sports?” asked Dr. Michael Romero, a young and vibrant sports leader and supporter, at the packed ballroom of the historic Manila Hotel.

Romero admitted that Philippine sports is not in the pink of health, and it’s no wonder why in the Olympics, the country can only show nine medals in 89 years.

Not one gold medal.

In the Asian Games, the Philippines finished second overall only twice, way back in 1954 and 1958 when it was still known as the Far Eastern Games.

In the Southeast Asian Games, the lowest of all international multi-sport events, the Philippines has only won the overall title once, in 2005 in Manila, but is now currently in sixth.

Last year, during the London Olympics, the Philippines managed to qualify only 11 athletes. They all came home empty-handed and kept a winless tradition since boxer Onyok Velasco won the silver in 1996 in Atlanta.

“What would Philippine sports look like five years from now in 2018? Ten years from now in 2023? And 25 years from now in 2038?” Romero asked.

“Is it our officials’ fault?  Is it our athletes’ fault? Or is there nobody out of the 100 million Filipinos who could approximate or better the strengths of our SEAG and international opponents?

“Is it lack of funding, lack of infrastructure, lack of training, lack of recruitment, lack of grassroots development? The answer is yes,” Romero said in his well-prepared speech.

The man who loves basketball, volleyball, shooting and polo said he wants to be part of the solution.

“It’s time for permanent and winning solutions,” he said.

Romero must have had them at the back of his mind the last few years he’d been actively involved in Philippine sports.

He called for the creation of a Department of Sports (DOS), but said it needs all the support it can get from the government, Congress in particular, as well as the private sector.

“I therefore propose the creation of the Department of Sports or DOS as the permanent solution to the funding and infrastructure problems of the country’s sport programs. 

“DOS will serve as the new platform for Philippine sports, the foundation on which to build the blocks of modern and results-oriented sports programs,” he said.

Among those who listened were Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia and most of the country’s finest athletes.

Romero called on the “small, medium and big” corporations in the whole country to chip in.

And when it’s done, Romero dreamed of the DOS having an annual budget of P2 billion broken down as follows: P500 million for sports administration, P1 billion for new infrastructures and another P500 million for training and development.

“Please join me in my campaign to generate one million signatures so that our voices would be heard throughout the country that this is the time for DOS.

“Citius, Altius, Fortius is the Olympic motto in Latin. With DOS, I am confident our Filipino athletes will be swifter, higher, stronger,” Romero said in closing his speech.

The DOS, Romero insisted, is what the doctor has ordered for Philippine sports.

The star-studded crowd applauded.