MOST likely, no one wishes to be in the shoes of Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino right now. The country’s sports chief is almost living a nightmare as he watches the ebb and flow of our national team’s campaign in the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
His target is for us to finish in fifth place, to match the country’s final position in the last SEA Games in Cambodia. In Tolentino’s mind, if the country can just maintain that ranking, the campaign would be a huge success.
It’s become almost like a death watch as Team Philippines slips in and out of fifth place in the overall medal standings, turning the remaining competitions into must-wins for the country to avoid total humiliation.
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Why being fifth overall at the SEA Games is even considered an achievement perplexes us. Is that the best we can be? This is the SEA Games, the world’s least competitive multination Olympic-style competition, an event the rest of the world probably has no inkling is going on, with only a handful of world-class athletes competing, and we’re happy to place fifth?
Less than a decade ago, in 2019, we were the champions, amassing more gold medals than any of the 10 other nations competing, and now we’re fighting tooth and nail to beat Malaysia and Singapore for fifth place!
While the Philippines had memorable moments in the past few days — we did win the gold medal in football and Alex Eala expectedly lorded it over in women’s tennis — these victories were tempered by Malaysia’s own surge. As this is written, Malaysia enjoys the edge of five gold medals against the Philippines, 46-41.
With one day left in the competition, this is not good for the Philippines. For us to take that impoverished fifth place, then on the last day, December 20, we must count on Malaysia getting a zero and believe we can win at least six gold medals in one day.
But whatever the outcome, the country’s SEA Games campaign is on track for what many will brand a failure. After all, finishing at fifth place in a contest with only 10 competitor countries does not sound too worthy of a celebration. It can only mean we haven’t improved, our sports program is directionless, and our priorities are askew.
The biggest example of priorities gone askew is us hosting the World Men’s Volleyball Championship at a cost of P2 Billion! That was just a month ago! It showed we can spend billions to look good in the eyes of others when, in fact, we badly need our limited resources for improving our entire sports situation.
What is galling, and what makes Filipinos question our sports officials’ intelligence, is the simple question: Why we are getting beaten by nations like Malaysia and Singapore?
We have a population of over 100 million. In Southeast Asia, only Indonesia has a bigger talent pool, yet we lose to countries like Malaysia with 34 million people and to Singapore with a mere six million!
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This kind of performance demands a congressional inquiry. Not, however, the kind that Rep. Richard Gomez threatens to ask Congress to initiate. For those living under a rock, this refers to the investigation of the Philippine Fencing Association toward cutting its budget, following a heated argument at the Games with the association president, during which, in an unfortunate show of ungentlemanly behavior, he swatted the nape of the president, a man shorter and older than him.
When the sun finally sets on the country’s Thailand SEA Games saga, we expect our top sports officials to praise our athletes. We agree that our athletes deserve the praise! But this is praise given to cover up the terrible job these same officials are doing, and it’s a shame they should hide behind the real heroes here.
When government assesses our performance, there will surely be calls for more grassroots programs, more intense training, and more support for elite athletes. In other words, more money for sports.
But, in fact, there has always been money.
Soon, the Philippine Sports Commission will again be receiving billions in pesos from PAGCOR as PSC’s share from PAGCOR’s gross income.
But for the government to spend all that money on a frivolous and totally wasteful undertaking like the FIVB Men’s World Volleyball Championships, fully knowing — if in denial — that we would never recover those billions in people’s money! And all this to massage the ego of one person. (Read: the former president of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.)
P2 billion would have given our athletes the best training possible, the services of first-class coaches, and enough to finance the modernization of our sports facilities. I will not even talk about what happened to our volleyball teams at the SEA Games. That’s for another day.
The SEA Games are not yet over — but a change in leadership appears needed. We need fresh ideas, fresh faces, and a new vision. It would be a sight to behold to have our sports leaders resign on their own volition in an admission of failure.
But, knowing these officials — who enjoy the perks and privileges of their positions and will not part with these — that would be an act of heroic proportions.
Will somebody tell them, please, that to resign from their posts would be a show of love of sports and country? And that we will give them a gold medal each for this supreme act?
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