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Since 2012, Philippine national athletes have been struggling with sponsorship. Team Philippines Chief of Mission Manny Lopez expressed how funding for sports is not given priority in the country, stating, “Funding is a major problem. But let’s face it. Sports is not just a top priority with the government, so we can’t really expect all-out support.”
National sports athletes should be provided with proper funding. Sponsorship is one of the essential ways to prepare them. All national sports bodies should be given proper funding because no national athlete deserves to have to fend for themselves. These aspirants should not only be given support during their moments of victory, but they should be supported from their training and development stages.
The positive outcome of providing sponsorship to athletes is evident in the 2020 Tokyo Games. The Philippine Sports Commission spent billions on the team of 19 Filipinos that qualified in the recent international competition, with their preparations bankrolled since 2016. PSC Chairman William Ramirez stated, “This is the most prepared athletes, strongest for me since ang atleta noon sariling funding ‘yan.” Considering the amount of pride these Filipinos have brought to the country, it is apparent that funding them contributed to their level of preparedness, leading to their success in the Tokyo Games. Ramirez added that they spent this amount of money “because that’s the way we should prepare our athletes”, expressing that sponsorship is truly one of the significant ways to prepare athletes. Investing in athletes granted the Philippines its long-sought Olympic gold, which was made possible through a series of preparations, support, and sponsorship for athletes.
No national athlete deserves to have to fend for themselves; however, this is contradictory to the news reporting that only the 39 national sports bodies that will be participating in the 31st Southeast Asian Games will receive funding from the PSC. Villar stated that other athletes “would have to start fending for themselves or hope and pray there will be enough money left for the PSC to keep them to be inserted into the government sports-funding agency’s payroll,” showing the inconsistency with the sponsorship of Filipino athletes. Furthermore, the PSC made appeals to local governments for funding because there is still an insufficiency in the allocated funds for the other 39 who received funds, despite other sports bodies not being given. It is reasonable to allocate proper funding for athletes who will compete in the international competition this year. Nonetheless, the rest of the country's athletes who will not participate in the SEA Games still deserve sponsorship. All athletes undergo training with the same purpose—to prepare for future opportunities and tournaments.
Filipino athletes should be given proper funding through their development stages, not just during their moments of victory. “I'm shamelessly trying to achieve my dream of bringing home the gold in the Olympics,” stated Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz while making appeals to private companies to receive financial support in 2019. PSC Chairman Ramirez then responded saying that the government is supportive of her and that she is among the national athletes with the highest allowance. If Diaz, who is said to be one of the Filipino athletes with the most allowance, still felt the need to make appeals for further sponsorship due to the insufficiency in funding, what more for other athletes who do not have big allowances? With the amount of joy and attention the success of Filipino athletes in the Tokyo Games has brought the whole country, national athletes should be seen as figures of Filipino pride.
In August 2021, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque stated, “We will look into how we can change this [the insufficiency in the allowance of Philippine athletes].” Roque admitted that there is a lack of government funding for country athletes.
Hopefully, the achievements and joy brought by Philippine athletes this 2021 have brought more attention to the country’s sports industry. The government should ensure that athletes receive the proper amount of funding they need, equal to the amount of pride they bring to the country when they perform successfully in competitions. As Filipinos, let us spark change among ourselves by showing better support to national athletes and letting sports unite us as one Philippine nation.
WRITERS' PROFILE
LARA NORYSA BEATRIZ N. OMABTANG
Copyreading Associate Editor
Grade 11 STEM
Other Organizations: Grade 11 Student Council, Adeodatus Scholarship Organization, Honors Society
EDGAR MATTHEW S. BISNAR
Graphic Arts Associate Editor
Grade 11 ABM
ARIANNE JAYNE D. ACOSTA
Copyreading Staffer
Grade 12 STEM
Other Organizations: Honors Society, STEM Pirates
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