MANILA, Philippines–As the Gilas Pilipinas continue to battle for
FIBA World Cup, filed separate bills aim to establish a sports training center
dedicated to develop potentials from Filipino athletes who are expected to
excel in international competitions were filed by Senators Bam Aquino and Sonny
Angara. last month allocating over P2 billion.
The bill is expected to cover state-of-the-art equipment,
mobilized facilities, to guarantee high-level training and significant
development.
President Aquino said the development of grassroots sports in the
country was overdue.
“Despite the Filipinos’ love for sports and athletics, the support
to achieve sustained excellence in sports from the private and public sectors
has been lacking,” said Aquino.
Senator Angara explained P750-million annual budget of the
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) was insufficient to rehabilitate and improve
facilities, and didn’t match same level of attention when it comes to sports
budgets of neighboring countries like Thailand and Singapore, which allocate
P13 billion and P6.5 billion a year, respectively, for their sports programs.
Angara said that the advancement “shall provide an integrated
grassroots to elite sports development platform intended to provide our
athletes with long-term and sustainable state support to perform well in
international tournaments and represent our country with pride and honor.”
