Escudero supports PSC fund increase for 2010 campaign

MANILA, Oct. 2 (PNA) -- Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero promised on Wednesday to support efforts to provide the Philippine Sports Commission with additional funding but only if the PSC would craft a viable program aimed at winning an Olympic gold medal in 2010 in London.

Escudero said the PSC deserves all the money the government could give it, but said the agency should be accountable for every centavo, which Escudero said should be efficiently used to avoid another Olympic shutout.

The Philippines has not won an Olympic gold medal in 2000 in Sydney, 2004 in Athens and in Beijing this year. The last medal it won from the Summer Games was a silver courtesy of boxer Mansueto Velasco in 1996 in Atlanta.

"We want to hear an assurance whatever funding the PSC would receive would be spent on sports which are focused on winning an Olympic medal, a gold if possible," Escudero said.

PSC officials led by Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez will face the Senate this week to defend their financial request from the 2009 General Appropriations Fund. But the agency tasked to oversee the government's various sports programs had suffered an early rebuff from Congress when its request for P750 million was cut to a mere P216 million, almost equivalent to what it receives yearly since the 1990's.

“We are aware of the needs of our athletes, and we have not forgotten our ugly experience in the recent Beijing Olympics. I will support efforts to increase the PSC budget as long as the agency is able to convince us where the people's money would be used and for what purpose,” Escudero said.

“If PSC officials could guarantee the nation that with an increased budget, given that government could afford to give it, and it would be sufficient to win us an Olympic gold medal, then I am raising my hand for a budget increase,” Escudero added.

But Escudero also said the PSC could work efficiently around a smaller budget, especially with only the Southeast Asian Games in Laos as the only big event in the PSC's calendar of expenses.

“Then, we could work together to increase the budget every year without sacrificing the athletes' training, specially those with Olympic potential,” Escudero said. “We should keep our focus on the Olympics, and start our rise from the sporting abyss today.”

Even PSC officials admitted they would work with whatever Congress had earlier approved for the agency.

“We understand that there are other more pressing needs that should be given priority,” Commissioner Richie Garcia said after attending the House Appropriations meeting last week, along with Ramirez and commissioners Eric Loretizo and Akiko Thomson.

The P216 million earmarked for sports, however, remains short if the PSC would fund various tournaments next year, which are focused on grassroots programs based on the earlier mandate issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), including the Asian Youth Games in Singapore and the 25th SEA Games in Laos. It will also finance grassroots activities like the annual Palarong Pambansa, University Games and the revival of Batang Pinoy.