Buhain justifies grassroots programs

Reacting to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Celso Dayrit’s comment that holding the Palarong Pambansa and the Batang Pinoy Games separately is a redundancy, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Eric Buhain said it is not logical to curtail mass participation through the annual staging of both competitions.

"Both programs have separate targets of audience–Batang Pinoy caters to 12 years old and below while the Palaro serves those who come from Batang Pinoy, ensuring the athletes’ continued training and exposure to competitions," explained Buhain, a bemedalled former national swimmer.

Buhain called Batang Pinoy "the starting ladder" and the Palaro "the next step" towards sustaining the interest of youth athletes to continue their athletic careers.

In a letter to President Arroyo, Buhain wrote that the PSC is pursuing a comprehensive pyramid-type plan that will redirect its focus on sports development. He said the Palaro and Batang Pinoy are at the base of the pyramid to be followed by the Commission on Higher Education Palaro for collegiate athletes, to be further reinforced by the three regionally-coordinated championships–the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Games leading to and culminating in the National Open.

Buhain expressed confidence that the pyramid approach will uncover the country’s next champion athletes. He said the idea is to expand the base of participation "to give us the opportunity to train and hone a wide array of disciplined and talented athletes ready to offer sacrifice for the country’s glory and honor."

A key ingredient in the PSC scheme is the involvement of Local Government Units (LGUs) to include the participation of out-of-school youth and other sectors, including the differently-abled.

"By adopting this system, it will be easy for all of us to identify the potentials of each LGU and see which LGUs are not seriously implementing good programs in their respective locales," continued Buhain. "Through this, the PSC can readily link up and catch up with these LGUs in developing and further enriching their respective sports programs by giving them access to technical assistance and management coming from the PSC and the various National Sports Associations (NSAs)."

Buhain said to make the Palaro and Batang Pinoy more in tune with the vagaries of international competitions, he will broaden the scope of sports events so that athletes are exposed to more and more disciplines that are in the SEA, Asian, and Olympic Games calendars. He said he also intends to lobby for the activation of the local sports councils in each city and municipality.

Addressing the problem of meager resources, Buhain said he is aware of the President’s thrust to judiciously conserve the limited funds available for sports. That’s why, he reasoned, the PSC is vigorously tapping LGUs, the private sector and other entities willing to invest in national athletes and share in the collective aspiration for excellence in sports.

"By ultimately making the Palaro and Batang Pinoy adopt the LGU-based representation system, we encourage our LGUs to take a greater role in investing in the development of their respective local sports programs resulting in less expensive national competitions," he pointed out.

Buhain took a potshot at the POC and NSAs by referring to them as the "missing third leg" in the campaign to develop sports. "What we need now is the contribution and commitment of the POC and the NSAs in working and partnering with us in prioritizing and advancing further their respective national programs and projects so that these will complement and supplement the overall, long-term sports development program of the national government," he said.

Dayrit, who initiated the debate by suggesting to President Arroyo the integration of the Palaro and Batang Pinoy into what he called the Philippine Youth Games (PYG) to be held once every two years, said he’s not budging from his position.

"I have more than 30 years experience in sports management," said Dayrit. "But never mind who speaks up even as many others share my opinion. My position is sayang ang gastos. The government is in dire need of funds and we should make do with what is available. All I’m suggesting is to prioritize our programs with the focus of being competitive when we host the 2005 SEA Games. The answer is not in grassroots development. The answer is not in the Palaro or Batang Pinoy."

Dayrit said if the Philippines flounders in the SEA Games in Vietnam this year, he anticipates a renewed clamor for grassroots development. "That’s the convenient way out," he mused. "We’ve been doing the Palaro since 1948 when it was called the National Interscholastic Games, renamed the Palaro in 1973. So it’s been around for five decades. But it has never produced champion athletes. We still don’t see the fruits of the Palaro. Eric cited Lydia de Vega, Elma Muros and Isidro del Prado but they were Gintong Alay, not Palaro, products. We need to revive the Philippine National Games (PNG) because the outstanding athletes don’t participate in the Palaro. We have been deceived into thinking we are directed by a sports program. A grassroots program is not the answer to our clamor for champion athletes."

Dayrit said of the 32 sports in the SEA Games, less than half are in the Palaro calendar for elementary and high school athletes. "How come other sports not in the Palaro and Batang Pinoy give us medals in international competitions, like equestrian, bowling, billiards, wushu, fencing, golf, archery, rowing, shooting, taekwondo and weightlifting?" wondered Dayrit. "What is the Palaro’s contribution?"

Dayrit said the Batang Pinoy, which is in its fourth year, unveiled athletes such as Ronald Guiriba and Emmanuel Quilala but asked where they are now.

"No other country holds national multi-sports age-group competitions every year," stressed Dayrit. "We do it every six months. Other countries hold yearly age-group competitions for particular sports like swimming but not at the multi-sport level. The solution is not in staging so many competitions for the sake of staging competitions–a lot of smoke but we don’t see the fire. If you check our medallists in the SEA, Asian and Olympic Games, you’ll find most never competed in the Palaro or Batang Pinoy, except for track and field."

Dayrit reiterated that he’s not against grassroots development. What he’s batting for is to rationalize and prioritize the PSC’s use of resources with the view of producing champion athletes for the 2005 SEA Games. He said he’s not suggesting the abolition of the Palaro and Batang Pinoy, only their integration into a biennial PYG to be staged alternately with the PNG.

In tomorrow’s column, former PSC chairman Philip Juico analyzes what is the real problem confronting Dayrit and Buhain.