150th gold
Credit to Author: Rey Bancod| Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2019 17:04:55 +0000
Many probably are not aware that the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is down to its last centavo after pouring P1.3 billion to prepare the athletes for the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
That’s a lot of money for a government agency which gets not more than P200 million a year from Congress and about P120 million a month from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR).
The PSC gave everything for the SEAG war, save for the shirt worn by its charismatic chairman, Butch Ramirez, who now has two SEA Games titles under his belt. He also headed the PSC when the Philippines topped the biennial event in 2005.
The P1.3 billion expenditure is unparalleled in PSC history, nearly thrice the amount spent by the country when it last hosted the Games.
The investment did not come to waste. The athletes responded with 387 medals and performances that brought the nation to its feet.
Truly, sports bring out the best in the Filipino. They came out in droves to cheer for our home team with a million more following the games on television, radio and live streams.
National pride swelled within every Filipino’s heart. Tears were shed, bodies locked in embrace and shouts of joy reverberated across the country.
What made the experience even more remarkable was the fact that the country only had 18 months to organize the Games.
There were missteps, sure. But these soon came to pass as soon as the athletes started collecting the first of 149 gold medals.
If there’s one lesson that can be learned from the experience is that if we provide the athletes the means to excel, they will deliver.
And the PSC, getting the marching order from President Duterte, did not leave any stone unturned to make it happen.
Since the Philippines took over the hosting chores of the Games, the PSC had been sending athletes abroad to train and compete abroad, hiring foreign coaches and spending a fortune on equipment.
National sports associations, including those with liquidation issues, became recipients of the PSC’s all-out support. The government agency simply looked the other way to ensure that preparations will not be derailed.
Because of the overwhelming public support for our athletes, Congress started to notice and approved an additional P600 million for the PSC, P500 million of which would be used for the SEA Para Games next month in Clark and Subic.
The remaining P100 million is allocated for athletes preparing for the Summer Olympics in July in Tokyo, Japan.
During the ceremony in Malacañang a few weeks ago, Duterte promised an additional P100 million for Olympic-bound athletes and directed PAGCOR chairperson Andrea Domingo to look for the needed funds.
All these would have not been possible without the support of the Filipino sports fans who, without doubt, deserve the 150th gold medal.