NSAs partly to blame for RP sports mess

Instead of blaming the Philippine Sports Commission for the troubles hounding local sports, particularly the country’s failure to excel in the international arena, the rallying national athletes and coaches should instead look at their very own backyard and see for themselves where the problem really lies.

"We cannot always look at the PSC and its leaders as the problem. These athletes and coaches should look at their respective National Sports Associations and maybe they would realize the real problem," said an NSA president, referring to the latest protest rally being staged inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The NSA head, who’d seen the best and the worst of RP sports, said that taking to the streets is not the solution to their problems. He said it would only take their focus away from their primary objective: train hard, win medals for the country and improve their own lives.

"I’m not saying that the NSAs should take all the blame, either. But let’s face it. Who picks the coaches? Who selects the athletes? Who trains them? Who develops the programs? It’s the NSA. And if they fail, I don’t think it’s even right for them to blame the PSC, whose only role is to provide the funding or at least monitor them," said the sports official.

Though he admitted that the PSC has its own list of shortcomings, the government sports agency, which was formed in 1990, has been trying so hard to fulfill its obligations despite the continued reduction of its annual budget – from P152 million last year down to P107 million for next year.

"That’s the bottomline. The PSC does not have the budget it really needs to get things going. A change in leadership will not solve the problems for as long as you lack the budget. Now, if the charges of corruption being hurled by these athletes against some PSC officials are true, then that’s a bigger problem," added the NSA head.

"But they (protesters) must first prove their allegations. Gather the evidence and lay them down the table. That’s the proper thing to do instead of rallying. The other problems like lack of equipment and other basic needs have always been there. Even in the past administrations, they’ve always been a problem."

The NSA official, a former national athlete and a great one at that, said the manner by which the members of the Athletes and Coaches Alliance of the Philippines (ACAP) are airing their grievances won’t even work simply because they don’t have the numbers. Rally leaders said the low turnout is due to the fact that almost 80 percent of their members are being prevented from joining them, being members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Since the rally-cum-vigil started Thursday morning, no more than a hundred athletes and coaches, most of them wearing black armbands, have gathered in front of the PSC main building as one. In fact, they even abandoned their camp Friday evening and said they won’t be back until tomorrow’s flag-raising ceremony – proof that they really can’t make it last.