It’s very commendable that the Philippine Sports Commission, the government’s overseer for fitness and sporting excellence, is up and flexing muscles even with only two officials manning the steering wheel.
Bowling legend Olivia “Bong” Coo was the first to be appointed to the board as commissioner. Not long after, former pro league chief and sports broadcaster Noli Eala assumed the role as chairman.
The duo, with able support from organic officials of the agency, have been drawing up the agency’s sports programs for the coming year, including the nationwide Batang Pinoy project.
Coo is occupied with women sports, including the Women’s Martial Arts Festival slated for next month.
But to make the agency grind in full motion, it needs three more commissioners still to be named by President Bongbong Marcos. The PSC law dictates that any major decision should be decided by the collegial body.
With only two of them in the board, some important projects have to be put on the sideline.
The year 2023 is bursting with local and international activities, including the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, the Asian Games in China, and qualifying tournaments for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
The PSC, however, cannot slow down.
On Monday, Eala and Coo met with various National Sports Associations for consultative meeting, where they introduced the agency’s newest programs called “Duyan ng Magiting” or the “Cradle of the Brave” at the grassroots level and the Project Gintong Laban, a tweaked version of the Gintong Alay which was the flagship sports program of PBBM’s father, President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.
But without agency’s board working as a whole, plans will just be plans.
PBBM has shown his commitment to sports when he invited the national athletes to join the parade during his inaugural speech last June 30 at the National Museum in Manila.
The Philippine Olympic Committee is hopeful sports will have its prominent nook in the administration of President Marcos Jr.
“We are thankful to the new administration, to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., for putting sports on a rightful platform in his administration,” said POC president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
“The POC, and the whole of Philippine sports for that matter, is more hopeful now that our athletes will be given more priority and attention under President Marcos,” he added.
Marcos’s predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, always recognized the contribution of Filipino athletes to his administration, honoring them with recognition and incentives in Malacañang.
Under the Duterte administration and leadership of Philippine Sports Commission chairman William “Butch” Ramirez, the Philippines won its first ever Olympic gold medal—courtesy of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz in Tokyo last year.
The time is now for PBBM to give the PSC the needed wings to fly way up high by completing the board with the appointment of three more commissioners.
As they say, sports transcends religion and culture. Sports is life and it cannot stop breathing.