8th in a series on GMA's 9th State of the Nation Address

MANILA - During her past State of the Nation Addresses (SONA), President Arroyo has never mentioned anything about her programs for Philippine sports, which has been losing its competitive edge against our Asian neighbors in the last few years.

In its latest outing in the Southeast Asian Games, the Philippines went down to sixth place with 42 gold medals. This was a far cry from its overall championship in the 2005 SEAG in Manila where it won 113 gold medals.

During the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Philippines failed to take home even a single medal from any official sports featured in the most prestigious sporting event in the world.

This, however, does not mean that the Philippine government is not doing anything about RP sports.

PSC and local sports

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is the government arm that deals with the local amateur sports. It is responsible for the funding of national athletes and of international competitions that the Philippines is a participant.

It works closely with the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), a private entity composed of various national sports associations which take charge in scouting and training local talents.

Under Mrs. Arroyo’s government, there have been four PSC chairmen.

The late Carlos "Butch" Tuason, appointed by former President Joseph Estrada as PSC chairman in 1998, held on to his term until late 2001.

During his watch, the Philippines ranked 5th in the 2001 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Malaysia with 31 gold medals.

Tuason was succeeded by be-medalled swimmer Eric Buhain, who started serving as PSC chairman in 2002.

Buhain, the youngest chairman ever to head the PSC at 32 years of age, saw the Philippines climb a notch higher in the 2003 SEAG in Vietnam, where the country landed 4th. In the 2002 Asian Games in South Korea, RP won 3 gold medals.

It was during Buhain’s term when the PSC launched the National Grassroots Development Program (NGDP), which, he said, aimed to “give direction to the full development of grassroots sports in the country by putting all mass-based events under one program."

However, during the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the country was not able to bring home any medal.

Buhain was eventually appointed by Mrs. Arroyo to head the Games and Amusements Board six months before the 2005 SEAG in Manila.

William “Butch” Ramirez replaced Buhain to see the Philippines win the overall championship in the 2005 SEAG with 113 gold medals. He also steered RP to win 4 gold medals in the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar.

It was during Ramirez’s term when Mrs. Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 651 to strengthen the PSC’s grassroots program in boxing and chess and other sports with “Olympic gold potentials”.

Mrs. Arroyo wanted PSC to implement and oversee a comprehensive educational and training program in coordination with various sectors, including the respective sports federations, the POC, public and private schools, local governments and private corporations.

It was also during Ramirez’s time when the funding issue with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) became a hot topic.

Ramirez said the PSC is “deprived” from performing its tasks owing to funding and budget constraints.

The PSC gets a large chunk of its funding from Pagcor and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, aside from the appropriated finances from the Department of Budget Management.

“By law, we should get 5 percent from the gross income of Pagcor, which we are not getting. In their computation it’s 5 percent, but in our computation, it’s only 2.5 percent,” said Ramirez.

Up to now, there remains no clear resolution of the funding scheme.

In 2008, the Philippines again failed to win a medal in the Summer Olympics held in China.

Enter Harry Angping

In January 2009, Mrs. Arroyo appointed former Manila congressman Harry Angping to take the place of Ramirez.

Angping has a “Dirty Harry” style of administration, one that demands results and accountability for every fund the PSC issues.

Observers believe that Mrs. Arroyo appointed the former congressman to put a leash on national sports associations.

“Nobody’s monitoring anything, how do we know how government money is being spent? Is this athlete or NSA (national sports association) improving? There should be an indication that performance is improving not just maintaining the same form,” he was quoted once as saying.

Angping said he is looking at NSAs with unliquidated cash advances “running up to millions.”

He explained that the PSC has the right to know how the money is being used since it is the taxpayers’ money that is being spent on national athletes.

This did not sit well with some of the committee officials, specifically POC chief Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, who called for the ouster of Angping from PSC.

“The policies and pronouncements of PSC Chairman Harry Angping has demoralized numerous athletes and champions… further discouraging many young Filipino talents raised abroad,” the POC said in one of its statements slamming Angping.

Despite claims made by both bodies that they have kept their feud away from the athletes, the strife has inevitably affected some of the country’s representatives to international sporting meets.

Feud affecting athletes

One example of such trouble spilling over athletes is the rift between Angping and Wushu Federation of the Philippines (WFP) official Julian Camacho.

The PSC chief has questioned Camacho for allegedly mishandling WFP’s finances during his term as the group’s president.

Camacho, meanwhile, fired back by accusing Angping of holding off the P150,000 funding for the wushu athletes, who were supposed to compete in the 1st Asian Martial Arts Games in Bangkok.

“Ang dahilan daw kung bakit hindi nabigyan ng funds ay hindi raw kami nag-eensayo,” said Camacho. “This is despite na kahit saang competition kami sumali lagi kaming may naiuuwing medalya.”

This was denied by Angping, who said that the PSC has at least P500,000 worth of available funds for wushu’s planned campaign.

“We have more than P500,000 available for wushu anytime,” Angping said.

He said the PSC is just waiting for Camacho to turn over his duties to new WFP president Tan Shi Ling before handing over the funding.

FG’s support for local sports

First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo played an important role in Philippine sports. He acted as the government’s “godfather” for the local athletes.

When the country’s wushu team won medals in the 2008 Olympics, Mr. Arroyo pledged P1 million cash reward.

Through his FG Foundation Inc., he has handed down cash incentives to wushu athletes Wang (gold medal) in the amount of P500,000;  Mary Jane Estimar (silver medal), 250,000. Benjie Rivera (bronze medal) and Mariane Mariano (bronze medal) both received 125,000 each.

“I am very proud of our wushu team. They were able to get medals, all of them... They gave honor to the country,” the First Gentleman said.

Mr. Arroyo also helped the athletes during their preparations for the 23rd SEAG in 2005. He pledged P92 million, through the help of his friends from the private sector, that boosted RP’s overall title campaign in Manila.

Morale boost from the president

Mrs. Arroyo, who offered an Olympic gold medal bounty worth P15 million, also acted as the “biggest cheerleader” for the country’s athletes in the 2008 Olympics.

Arroyo was the first Filipino president to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics, reported www.ChinaView.cn. She said she wanted to cheer on the athletes.

According to the website, Arroyo regarded the Filipino Olympians as “role models for our next generations. We are proud of them.”

Taekwondo jin Tshomlee Go told Xinhua news agency that Arroyo’s presence at the Games’ opening ceremony inspired his team.

“It keeps our morale high," he added.  -- With reports from The Manila Bulletin, The Philippine Star and Business Mirror.