Arnis moving in Congress

Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri is confident he will be able to get both houses of Congress to pass Senate Bill 1424, which will name arnis as the official sport of the Philippines within the year. What needs to happen is for the Senate to pass the bill on its third reading, and for the House to do the same with a counterpart bill.

For the former congressman from Bukidnon, the process may seem simple enough, but the impact is great and far-reaching.

“If the Lower House is able to fast-track its version and we can quickly consolidate both versions of the bill, I see no reason why we can’t have the President sign it into law within the year,” said Zubiri, himself an arnis practitioner and former member of the national team.

Once the law takes effect, its impact will include the propagation of the sport in all schools, which will probably be mandated by law. As of now, sports like ice skating and ballroom dancing are already being taught in many schools as part of physical education, way ahead of even our national indigenous sport.

“I want us to take pride in our culture,” Zubiri continues, taking a dig at the current national sport association handling the sport, Arnis Philippines. “I am so embarrassed and disappointed that, when we go to the Southeast Asian Games, we are required to compete in taekwondo, muay thai, and karatedo. And we have not even been able to make arnis a permanent fixture.”

Aside from fighting this particular battle on a national front, Zubiri says the real battlefield will be overseas, where foreign students may be reluctant to come over given the current peace and order problem and the threat of the A(H1N1) virus.

Zubiri is helping with the establishment of a genuine Filipino martial arts sports association, like world governing bodies. The loophole is that there are none, because the sport emanates from here.

“I think everyone is fed up with the current leadership in arnis,” Zubiri thinks hard. “What we need is a change that people will feel. I don’t want them to get into the habit of just showing up for trips, even when they aren’t swimming.

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