Senate backs extra funds for PSC

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate gave its full backing to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) request for bigger funding for the national athletes’ stints in forthcoming international competitions including the Hangzhou Asian Games next year.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, the finance committee chairman who presided over the hearing that tackled the proposed budget allocations for several government agencies including the PSC, said they would give extra attention to the request for additional monetary support to bankroll the country’s international journeys.

Aside from the P211.575 million budget already allocated for the PSC next year, the government’s sports-funding agency has requested P1.5 billion to finance the country’s campaigns in the Asiad, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Beijing Winter Olympics and World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.

It would also cover the training expenses to be incurred for the 2023 Phnom Penh Southeast Asian Games as well as the 2022 Hanoi SEA Games, if the latter pushes through.

“As the sponsor of the PSC budget, we will take a closer look at these budget requests taking into consideration the discussions yesterday regarding the Philippine training centers and the lack of funding for the international sporting competitions,” Villanueva told The STAR.

Sen. Bong Go, who chairs the sports committee, has thrown his support along with Sens. Miguel Zubiri, Pia Cayetano and Francis Tolentino.

PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez expressed his gratitude to the senators for their recognition of the vital role the PSC has played in achieving the country’s historical triumph in the Tokyo Olympics.