Revisiting relationships

The row between the leadership of the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee is a tiresome, recurring, seemingly unsolvable stalemate. Each side is hurling accusations and veiled (or unveiled) threats against the other. The PSC is set to prove irresponsibility on the part of the POC in the matter of spending public funds, while the POC is saying that the government agency has no right to meddle in its affairs.

Which is true? What does the law state? Republic Act 6847, or the Philippine Sports Commission Act, has several sections which provide some clarity in the matter, albeit some sections will need further legal interpretation. But perhaps the following sections of the law may provide some clarity in the murky misunderstanding between the two bodies.

The policy itself has a lofty ideal, as Section 2 of the act states. “...the establishment and creation of a single, unified and integrated national sports policy-making body shall further this objective.” Section 7a makes it a little more clear. “Plan, implement and oversee an integrated amateur sports promotion and development program for the country... in coordination with various sectors involved in sports, including, among others, the Philippine Olympic Committee, the National Sports Associations, the public and private schools, government corporations and entities, the local governments, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and other sports organizations and private corporations;” in other words, the PSC has to work with the POC and even other private and government institutions that have a sports component.

Now, Section 7j is a little trickier. It says for the Commission “To exercise supervisory and visitorial powers over the national sports associations in connection with their sports promotion and development programs with respect to which financial assistance is extended by the Commission;” in other words, the PSC can be involved in certain decisions of the NSAs as long as they use government funds. For the lucky sports that manage on private funding, the PSC has no power to intervene, since they raise their own money. But on paper, it pretty much means all national sports associations which use government funds.

Section m adds “To impose sanctions upon any national sports association, institution, association, body, entity, team, athlete and sports official for violation of its policies, rules and regulations...” The said sanctions are not defined, but the PSC assumes that deprivation of funds to erring NSAs is a logical sanction. The PSC has, in the last, also suspended some NSAs for not going along with instructions from the Commission.

Section 12 adds more detail to the relationship with the POC in these words: “The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) which is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee is hereby recognized as the National Olympic Committee for the Philippines. It is autonomous in character. The Philippine Olympic Committee shall maintain its primary responsibility for activities pertaining to the country’s participation in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games and other international athletic competitions in accordance respectively with the rules and regulations of the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Council of Asia, the Southeast Asian Games Federation and other international sports bodies.”

A similar provision, Section 13, covers the NSAs. “The national sports association recognized by the Commission shall be autonomous and shall have exclusive technical control over the promotion and development of the particular sport for which they are organized, subject however to the supervisory and visitorial powers of the Commission...”

In other words, the PSC can supervise NSAs and other entities that derive funding from the government. The extent of that supervisory role, however, is not defined. But as long as PSC holds the purse strings, they are responsible for where the money goes, on paper.

A succeeding section (g) under Functions of the Commission states “Develop and promulgate rules and regulations to implement this Act, including rules to delineate and define areas of responsibilities of all sectors involved in sports promotion and development, respecting the individual set-up, priorities, structure and competence of the different government and private institutions...” This may be interpreted to mean that the PSC Itself may define the terms of its relationship with other groups, as long as certain boundaries are clear.

In most other countries, sports are either entirely private or entirely government, The Philippine scenario is an uncomfortable hybrid.