IF there’s any more proof that volleyball has become the latest big craze, look no farther than Malacañang. No, they haven’t put up a volleyball court there, not as far as we know, but its chief resident, Bongbong Marcos, gave volleyball a boost that it probably doesn’t need but that most sports absolutely do.
In recent years, volleyball — women’s in particular — has grown by leaps and bounds. Seizing the spotlight like no other sport has in years, it has packed stadiums to the rafters, created superstars, and managed all these without help from government.
Now comes Bongbong, looking like someone riding a sport that’s garnered a cult following. In a signature move, the country’s chief executive, who’s not known to play any sport, issued an order unprecedented in his term: “All government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations, are hereby directed, and all local government units are encouraged, to extend full support to the Philippine hosting of volleyball and beach volleyball events in 2024.”
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This order was contained in Memorandum Circular 49 dated May 13 and signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
I cannot say I fully understand this edict, but it seems like an order requiring all government agencies, plus all city and provincial units, to give help to organizers of volleyball events when they ask for it. Whether this includes opening vaults and tapping into people’s taxes is unclear to me.
The country is hosting at least five international events this year. These are: the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women’s Challenge Cup, beginning May 22, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila; the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Men’s Week Three, June 18 to 23, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena; Volleyball World Challenger Cup, July 4 to 7, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium; the Southeast Asia Volleyball League for Men and Women, August 13 to 25, at the City of Santa Rosa Sports Complex; and the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge, Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, at the Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land also in Santa Rosa.
That’s a lot of volleyball, and all international events, too. To my understanding, hosting events like these costs a lot of money. But because these events’ chief organizer, the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF), led by Ramon Suzara, keeps the financial end of these tournaments like a state secret, we never know exactly what our federation’s contributions are to these events.
I just hope these volleyball events do not take away funds intended for public service, infrastructure, new jobs, schools, and health centers. But just to make things clear, I am not against having big international sports events here. They give us entertainment, allow us to witness up close some of the best in the business, provide our athletes the chance to measure their own skills against others, and also give our coaches the opportunity to learn new tricks and techniques from their foreign counterparts.
That said, we are a poor country and our people greatly need all the help they can get from government. Setting aside funds, the full amount of which we don’t know and probably never will, for volleyball competitions, is not the way to do it. It smacks too much of giving the hungry bread and circus.
What’s more, what’s to stop other sports associations from asking for presidential intervention to move government entities now? The President cannot be made to look like he favors one sport over another. As President, he has to play fair.
Other sports languish in near obscurity
As it is, many sports languish in near obscurity. They get no attention and no money from government. True, the Philippine Sports Commission is the agency in charge of that, but look around our sports associations. Except for those lavished with attention by corporate giants, they barely get enough to make them competitive internationally.
Take athletics, aka track and field, and swimming. These two disciplines offer up no less than 80 gold medals during multi-national meets like the SEA Games, the Asian Games, and the Olympics, yet they are two sports that barely contribute to our medal tally. Why? For one, lack of talent; for another, funding deficiency makes searching for and grooming potential stars very hard.
For example, at the 2023 SEA Games, out of 80 medals up for grabs, the country won only four gold medals in athletics and just two in swimming. At the Asian Games that same year in China, Filipino athletes won even less — one gold in athletics and zero in swimming. At the Tokyo Olympics, where the fight is at heroic levels, even worse — zero medal for both athletics and swimming.
But, you have to give it to volleyball’s association leaders. They know who to engage to get their wish list. In this case, the PNVF tapped the President’s son, 25-year-old Vinny Marcos, and made him co-chair of the local organizing committee of next year’s FIVB Men’s World Volleyball Championship, an event featuring 32 of the world’s best volleyball teams.
The event may be for next year yet, but by giving the President’s young son such a high-profile post in such a high-profile event this early — what do you think happens next? Well, the government can make resources available and pull out all the stops for volleyball, a sport so robust it actually doesn’t need the help.
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