Manuel, "Lito" M: Lap '
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MR. PRESIDENT: .. The Committee on Game3,:Amusement and S ch was,referred P.S. Res:NOl:20,.. introduced by Sen?Manuel, "Lito" M: Lap .. , ,+., . ,: ._ ' "RESOLUTION 0lRECTING":THE COMMIT GAMES, 'AM SEMEN? , ,. 1 AND SPORTS TO CONDUCTAN.INQUIRY;IrJ AID OF LEGY SUTIO,fll, ':. /NTQ THE ',PREPARATIONS 'BElNG .CONDUCTED BY Th'k ', .., PHILIPPINE SPORTS COMMISSION ,,JPSC)I AND THE .PHILIPPINk OLYMPIC GOMMITTEE (POC), IN THE,'NEARlNG INTERNATIONAL .... SPORTING EVENTS PARTICULARLY :3H/5 2004 OLYMPlCS l/L! ATHENS, GRE€CE; 2006ASlAN GAMES IN DOHA, QATAR;AND THE 2005 SOUTHEAST ASIAN. GAMES .(SEA1 GAMES) IN MANILA , ' PHILIPPINES, ~W1,TH THE END lN-'iVIEq OF ASSURING THk , ~ COUNTRY'S SUCCESSFUL PARTICIPATIqN IN THESE NEARING INTERNATIONAL SPORTING MEETS AS WFLL AS THE COUNTRY'S READINESS IN HOSTING THE SEA GAMES NEXT YEAR i I ~ P.S. Res. No. 65, by Sen.,Luisa "Loi" P. Ejerito Ekstrada, entitled: THE SENATE,, COLMITTEE ON GAME$, .. .'AMUSEMENT AND SPORTS, . TO ~INVEf2TIGATE, IN AID OF LEGISLATION; THE'ACTUAL STATE.'OF AFFAIRS OF.PHILIPPINk , SPORTS '' .~ ~ lji 1 and P.S Res. No.'83, introduced by Sen. Richari'J. Gordon,jentitled: ., , ,;. ' ,, . 'RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN INQUIRY ~IdTOTHE PHILIPPINEg CAPAElLlT/ES AND'PLANS FOR HOSTING b@D PARTICIPATING IN. THE 2005 SOUTHEASTASIAN GAMES,: .' ~ (.. I has considered the same and has the honor to report theim back to the Senate with the attached findings and recommendations. ' j 'Respectfully subty-1.. JOKER P. ARROYO The Honorable FRANKLIN M. DWlLOM Senate President ,/ THE COMMITTEE MA~~AT~:,' ,, .The Senate Committee on' Games, Amusement :and Sports conducted two public hearings on September 8,:2004 and March 8, 2005, in aid of legislation, on the preparations being undertaken by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Philippine Olympjc.Committee (POC), and. the various national sports associations (NSAs) for the cdming international sporting'events our country will .be participating in as well as the preparations being undertaken by the Philippi&:. Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHILSOC) for the hosting of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games ,... ~,, ..,. , I .. , (SEA Games). ~ .. .,i,~..:' ' , -. i , . .'\ .The hearings were also c ducted to' determi elthe-present condition of sports in the country in view of the pervading.reports that the performance of our national athletes in all interflattonal sporting events in the recent years continues to deteriorate. , ," ., . ,.~,~.,. , . ,,_' _I . , Cdnsidering that we barely have time to prepare::ar/d put our athletes in top condition,,all concerned, most specially the PSC,-shoulajsee to it that every need of our national delegation is properly provided for;.It is:hoped that this will give us a fighting chance to duplicate or even surpass the country's performance in the 1997 SEA Games in Manila that brought honor and glory to our countv. .,I.. With the threshing'out:of various issues invo art$ it is desired that tho couritry's,efforts in attaining sports supremacy at le Southeast Asian Region will not be hindered by the present crisis. And to.ki bid for supremacy in the! Region, the hosting of the SEA Games from November,27,~2005to December 5, 20.05 should be staged with utmost creativity and imagination: as to bring prestige and magnificence to our country. ,'. FINDINGS: . .I ', . , 'i.?,.,,.,,. , .,' .Based on the testimonies. and-documents su6mitted .,during the hearings, the Committee hereby presents the following findings: 1 ,"'I , ,I 1. On the present Stake of the Phiiipaine Sports I.I Funding support to the country's elite and mass-based sports acfivities Under Republic Act No. 6847, the Philippine Sports Commission is mandated to provide financial support to both the elite and mass-based sports program of the country. As admitted by its former Chair, Eric Buhain, close to 80% of the Comm\ssion's annual budget is being allotted for elite sports in the form of assistance t4 the sports development program of 43 NSAs, allowances, food subsidy, local and overseas trainings, participation in international games, an8 all other needs of the national pool of athletes. Annually, more than P250 million are expended as financial support for all the NSAs. On the other hand, the'budget for mass-base9 sports is earmarked for the existing community sports acthitias, particularly, assistance for their respective sports clinics, equipment and conduct of sports competitions in the 750 municipalities and 76 provinces in the country. The said budget is also being used for holding various local based sports competitions hosted by the PSC such as the Philippine National Games and "Batang Pinoy". .. I , . ,. .I , .The PSC has two sources;of funds, namely, t uai General Appropriations, Act (GAA) or the General Fund?dderivedfrom the Nation'al Government and the so- called National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).. The.NSDF is sourced out from its share of income from the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation (PAGCDR), taxes derived from the importation of sports equipment, srjecial lottery draw from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and holiday races of the bhilippine Racing Commission (PHILRACOM). I-.. ,, In its 14 years of existence, the PSC is.only ceiving an average of PIOO million annual budget from the National Government. "Of its income sourced out from the NSDF, the supposed 5%- monthly share from PAGCOR of the Commission had, been' dllegedly slashed downito only 2.3% with the;'adoption of a new system of computing the said 5% share:'At{the -same time; itg'permntage share' from other sources'.such as PCSO, Bureau of :Customs (BOC) "and..'PHILRACOM have been' diminished .substantially due alleged circumventi he interpretation of the law. This "effectively deprived th ational athletes",mi pesos worth :,of, financial support from the governmen ... ,, . ,I ,. ' 2 ' As earlier stated, the la'rgest decline in the''$ the PSC can be attributed to the' change in the process of ,computing .its:percentage share of 'income from PAGCOR;. their largest income co'ntributor. 1tsWasj:revealed that the PSC used to receive 5% share from the gross:receipts of PAGCOR;aAer, deducting a 5% franchise tax..;However, a change in ttie -system of computationiwas instituted and PSC's 5%, share was remitted to them only:after deducting thef5%.q'franchisetax and the 50% share of the national government: This new system of putinb the PSC's 5% share diluted their income from PAGCOR. by almost 50%. ,. ,. As'a result of the dilemma,*the PSC is' not ab adequately provide for the basic needs of the national athletes, which paved:the;wav,for the deterioration of Philippine sports. In fact, in order to sufficiently supporYthe athletes that competed in the '2004.Athens Olympics, :,the , PSC decided ix NSAs bound for the Olympics be given funding p ake,.sacrifices for the time being. Moreover, last year' !'Palarong Pambansa" was canceled due to considerabl rations for the Olympics. ,,.., .. '.:T$s lack or insufficie specially those bound for international '.trainings and etitions'%,.ia heavy blow to sports; development. The failure of our :athletes to participate:in':international events denied! them of much needed exposure 'in ,highly competitive sports.:Moreover, failure to field our athletes in mandatory tournaments sanctioned-bytinternational federations will: lead to:the suspension of our NSAs from further participating in the SEA Games, Asian Games and the Olympics-asthis is part of our international commitment. I.2 The situation of the country's national sports development program The Philippine Sports Commission, admittedly, has not implemented an integrated national sports development program. 4.2.1 The country's sports competitive program The committee discovered that holding the programs of "Batang Pinoy" for children aged 12 and below, "Palarong Pambansa" for elementary and high school students, Mindanao Games for athletes living in the South, and the respective National Open of the NSAs .ar&Tnot enough to com ompetitive pro r, the annual not .adequate to fund all these sporting activities., arong Pambansa" alone would entail almost half of the Commission's budgets ., ,., .~ a, ,. In view of these insufficiencies, former, PSC's Board of Commissioners!is trying to fin events they have been holding annually in order to come-up with an integrated and rationalized sports competitive program for the country ..,., ,, > 5 *. .~..., , *. -", 1 I.2.2 The country's sports policy program I ;. .. * r, ,, ,. It "bas been observed that .the common denominator sfiared by sports ouses such as China, ,Indonesia, Thailand andilietnam, is ttie existence of a I sports development structure, which goes from the'. national level down to the smallest unit.of their society. ., ., In the case of the Philippines, there 1acks;an integrated sp04s policy that will set the direction each segment of .the'society,~from the:barangay up to the' national level, has to take to attain the objectives of sports.for:aIl.programs, arid the excellence demanded ' in international ' sports';.-competitions: ~,Asfit*;-is, the P'SC, :NSAS, the Depaitment of Education (DepEd), local government unitsT(LGUs) anti other 'agencies, involved in sports have undertaken separate .and vu strated jsports .program, resulting in the dismal performancee.ofour athletes in.in nal co$tpetitions. ., , ~. I .i .. ~.., , :. ',Although the PSC is .mandated by law to be arge of ~IIprograms for amateur sports, the main problem lies on its enforceability. For instance, the Comrhission lacks the authority to direct