Philippine sports body's request for bigger funding gets Senate nod

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate gave its full backing on the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC)’s request for a bigger funding as the country competes in several international competitions including the Hangzhou Asian Games next year.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, who led the hearing by their Committee on Finance that tackled the budget allocation on several government agencies including the PSC, said they will give extra attention the additional monetary support needed to fund the bankroll country’s campaign abroad.

Aside from the Php211 million budget already allocated for PSC next year, the government’s sports-funding agency has also asked another Php1.5 billion to finance the country’s bid in the Asiad, the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the Beijing Winter Olympics and the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.

It would also cover the training expenses to be incurred in the 2023 Phnom Penh Southeast Asian Games as well as the 2022 Hanoi SEA Games, if the latter pushes through.

“As the sponsor of the PSC budget, we will take a closer look to these budget requests taking into consideration the discussions yesterday regarding the Philippine training centers and the lack of funding for the international sporting competitions,” Villanueva told The STAR.

“We've seen how the power of sports can unite our nation weary from the effects of the pandemic.

“We want to ensure that the budgets of our sports agencies next year will be an instrument to seek, train and support more athletes and sustain their livelihood,” he added.

Senator Bong Go, who chairs the sports committee, already threw his support along with Sens. Miguel Zubiri, Pia Cayetano and Francis Tolentino.

The PSC is thankful to members of the Senate for their support and call to increase the agency’s allocation for 2022.

PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez expressed his gratitude to the senators for their recognition of the vital role the PSC has played in achieving the country’s historical triumph at the Tokyo 2020+1 Olympics.