Philippines' Olympic future even brighter amid launch of MILO's latest sports grassroots initiative

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – Is a 200-man Philippine delegation to the Olympics a possibility?

A commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) surely thinks so.

PSC commissioner Edward Hayco said that he actually believes a 200-man delegation “can be done,” as long as different sectors work together.

During a press conference after the launch of the Milo Active Pilipinas 2025 here, Hayco said that as long as various sectors work hand-in-hand, the Philippines could bring more athletes to the Olympics moving forward.

“Right now, sports stakeholders operate separately. Let's be candid about it. Separately… We need to be one,” he told reporters.

Hayco told the story of a grassroots program in Cebu City, where weightlifters Elreen Ando and John Ceniza were discovered.

He said that during his visit to the “very ordinary gym”, an official from the Philippine Olympic Committee told him about Ando and Ceniza. And fast forward to last year, the two competed in Paris.

“You should see it. It's where Ando and Ceniza come from. We were able to send two Olympians to Paris from a very ordinary gym. They were sent to the Philippine team. Had that guy attended, I don't even know him. Had he not done that, Ceniza and Ando would still be in that grassroots program,” he said.

“If we connect with POC (Philippine Olympic Committee) and NSA (National Sports Association), we will have more quality athletes. More will be discovered. That's my point. Instead of 20, it can be 50, 100, 200,” he said.

Last year, 22 Filipinos competed in Paris. There, Carlos Yulo brought home two gold medals for gymnastics, while boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas copped bronzes.

And now, with the launch of the Milo Active Pilipinas, more children across the nation are called to have better, more active lifestyles, which could result in more national athletes for years to come.

The program was made possible in partnership with the PSC, the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Department of Education.

“So we are really grateful that we are part of discovering not just the now talents, but also the next generation of talents. So a lot of them started with Milo sports clinics, and in Visayas and Mindanao, we are having more branches, more sports clinic partners for teaching fundamentals of sports,” Milo Philippines sports head Carlo Sampan said.

“And, we are just getting started because we all believe that sports provides great future. So we are just getting started early through our sports clinic partners,” he added.

Sampan said that this year, there will be 25 Milo marathons, an increase from 15 last year. Each leg of the Milo Marathon will also now have a PWD category.

But with the launch of the Active Pilipinas initiative, Milo Philippines Senior Vice President Veronica Cruz said that they are eyeing to surpass their figure of two million children reached by the program.

“Okay, so three million kids at least, and also, of course, more than the five million total Filipinos that we engage. This is on-ground, okay? So this is different from online. So this is through on-ground events. To achieve this, we are expanding our scale and reach,” she added.

“So we expanded, including more provinces in Visayas and Mindanao, and with that support, we are bringing sports clinics and grassroots sports programs closer to more communities, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to participate, grow, and dream big.”

For his part, Nikko Huelgas, marketing head of the Philippine Olympic Committee and the chairman of the POC’s Athletes’ Commission, said that with the support of more and more private sectors, the future of Philippine sports is bright, as evidenced by the historic performance of the Filipinos in Paris.

“Last year, the Philippines celebrated 100 years of participation in the Olympic Games. And in that year, 2024, in Paris, we sent our biggest contingent of 22 Olympians. And out of the 22 Olympians, Team Philippines delivered two Olympic gold medals and two bronze medals, to which we became number one in Southeast Asia, ninth in Asia and 37th in the world,” he said.

“This great achievement that Team Philippines did was a result of decades of a system of support, both from the government and the private sector. So, we're very grateful that more and more private sectors, like Milo, continue to support the development of sports that actually starts from this very moment right here, the grassroots,” he added.

He said they will “try our best to reach 200 Olympians.”

“With that said, we're very thankful to everybody for our sports stakeholders that we continue to, send more Olympians in the LA Olympics, maybe from 30, or as Commissioner Edward said, 200. And moving forward for better Philippine sports.”

Aside from the Milo Active Pilipinas, the first Safe Swim for 2025 was launched in the Cebu City Sports Complex, while the first Milo Barangay Liga this year was likewise launched in Talisay, Cebu.