No obligation

Does Republic Act 6847 (“The Philippine Sports Commission Law”) actually state that the PSC is obligated to give monthly allowances to national athletes?

Section 7,  “Functions of the Commission” says merely “(i) Provide such incentives, recognition and awards to deserving associations, athletes, referees, game officials, coaches, trainers and other persons or entities involved in or supporting sports development as may be permissible under the rules of amateurism.” Meanwhile, Section 11 of same law, under “Powers of the Commission” states “(h) To confer, extend and grant awards, benefits and privileges to athletes, coaches and officials for outstanding performances in national and international competitions; (i) To confer, extend and grant support or assistance to sports associations which are in good standing with the Commission.” (Note “sports associations in good standing”) In other words, the PSC is actually not required by law to give regular allowances, but has done so to the tune of billions and billions of pesos since 1990. Even RA 10699, which expands the coverage of incentives, does not mention monthly allowances, but lists privileges and rewards, including staying at national sports complexes “while preparing for international competition.”

Now that that’s clear, think about this: there were no major international amateur sports competitions for a full year. Over 12 whole months, only a handful of continental or national or virtual events have been held. And yet, despite there being no need to do so, the PSC continued to support and house athletes who were, to be blunt, on forced vacation. In theory, with no competitions, the PSC could have put all national teams on unpaid hiatus. But instead, the Commission understood that the athletes and coaches needed its support.

But there is more to it. In the last two years, the PSC has gone above and beyond its duties in making sure Filipino athletes succeed. It followed orders to release more than half a billion pesos to shore up the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. That money still has not been accounted for or returned, as it was meant to be. Then the pandemic struck, paralyzing the economy to this day. Things are far from normal, yet athletes sometimes gripe over problems which their NSAs fail to make them understand. For example, have the NSAs made the athletes realize that national teams and national pools exist to enter international competitions and qualify for higher elite tournaments? Every December, all national teams are disbanded (at least on paper) to clean the slate for each sport to create a new national team, retain or promote the deserving and jettison underperforming athletes. Granted, there are a few who are unfairly favored and kept on rosters at the pleasure of their bosses. But the point is for them to compete, move up in ranking, qualify for higher stakes like Asian Games, world championships and the Olympics.

Also, do the athletes know where the funding for sports sits on the totem pole of the national budget? To be polite, it is not a high priority. The national government, crippled by economic shutdowns, has far more critical expenses to worry about, and has borrowed mind-boggling sums to address those needs. And yet, despite all of this, the PSC continues to find ways to function and serve the athletes, and even fight for their budget. This, even as some NSAs insist on sending athletes to countries where mandatory quarantine will even interrupt their training and set them back weeks. In other words, they’re still spending money as if there was a surplus.

Seriously, let’s call things as they are and give credit where it is rightly due. Enough of the national sports associations credit-grabbing and patting themselves on the back. Let’s call a spade a spade: for the great majority of NSAs, without the support of the Philippine Sports Commission, they would be nowhere. Period.

A few NSAs adopted austerity measures when COVID-19 broke out; others didn’t. When some NSAs fail at things within their control, it’s someone else’s fault. They conveniently blame the pandemic to cover up their inadequacies, even when their own competitors have been training overseas. But when the PSC has even minor problems caused by these same larger, uncontrollable issues, these same people – who still enjoy the full support of the Commission – wash their hands and point fingers. That doesn’t sound like fair play, does it?