The feud between Olympian and world’s #5 pole vaulter EJ Obiena and Philip Ella Juico, the president of his sports association PATAFA begs the question: What really is the purpose of these sports associations that is funded by the Philippine Sports Commission with money coming from our taxes?
Their charter says they exist to support the search for and the development of Filipino athletes who will represent us in competitions abroad. The end-goal is for these athletes to become world champions and bring glory to our country while becoming role models for the youth.
Please note that the majority of these require high-level training and competitions to become world-class and accumulate enough points to qualify for the Olympics. As the training and competition costs are prohibitive, the limited budget of each sports association is supplemented by the support of the private sector like the MVP Foundation.
Athletes like EJ Obiena have to stay abroad, specifically in Europe where more competitions in their sport is organized, to help them stay competitive. Living abroad for these athletes is no party and games. They have to do everything: training, plan their meals and pay their coach. Shouldn’t PATAFA lessen the burden of its players by providing admin and accounting support? Why would they burden its top athlete, training and living abroad by himself, with handling the payment of his coach when they can easily do that by bank transfer? From their air-conditioned offices, it’s easy to blame an athlete like Obiena for failing to file paper work properly. Even assuming there was a liquidation problem, why would they automatically ascribe ill-motive on the part of Obiena and practically treat him like a plunderer?
Our athletes should be treated with respect and proper care. They all represent a very important sector with huge following. – Ed Dames, San Lorenzo Village, Makati