Review of RP sports program sought after Athens debacle

Sen. Richard Gordon is seeking a congressional review of the Philippine sports program after the national team failed to win a single medal in the Athens Olympics, the second straight Summer Games it has come up empty-handed.

"Prestige in international sports competition is one of the factors that distinguishes a country and which makes foreigners take a close look at that nation, and in turn generates interests in tourism in that particular country," he said.

However, the former tourism secretary said he was not blaming members of the Philippine Olympic team.

"They wanted passionately to bring honors to their country, and the important thing is that they did their best," he said.

"Despite all, we still consider them our sports heroes. But we must prepare for the future by using our experience to improve our sports performance for the sake of national prestige.

"Sports is also a measure of the health and vigor of society, and the development of sports potential is necessary to serve as an encouragement to the people to achieve high standards of physical fitness, which also strengthens intellectual capability," Gordon said.

He said he was not trying to denigrade the capability and determination of Filipino athletes as they had tried to win a medal.

"We still congratulate them for doing their best," he said. "But their best was not enough. They needed more training and support from our government, and perhaps we can do better next time by trying to reinvent the way we select and train our athletes."

Gordon said the declining performance of Philippine sports is a matter of national concern.

"We should review our sports program and see if we can improve it so that we shall be able to develop athletes who will be more competitive in international sports competitions, especially the Olympics," he said.

Gordon said Thailand — a nation comparable in population and economic potential to the Philippines — won eight medals, comprising three golds, one silver, and four bronzes in the Athens Olympics.

"Even Cuba, a tiny nation with only about 10 million population, has been able to win 27 medals, including two golds," he said.

"Taiwan, another smaller neighbor, got five medals, including two golds. Indonesia won four medals, (comprising) one gold, one silver, and two bronzes."

Gordon said now is the time to strengthen the Philippine sports program before the Southeast Asian Games next year.

"We have another four years to train our athletes for the Beijing Olympics," he said. "We must aim to have a better showing there."

A means may be found to make the sports program more effective through a methodical and efficient system of training athletes, Gordon, a former varsity cheerleader at the Ateneo, added.