Bachmann set to meet Marcos anew
Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann is set to sit down with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos again to plot the strengthening of the country’s anti-doping measures.
In a conversation with DAILY TRIBUNE at the sidelines of the “Legacy Motion: A Visual Tribute to Olympic and Paralympic Athletes last Tuesday, Bachmann said he is looking to reach out to the Chief Executive to discuss the increase of plantilla positions in the Philippine National Anti-Doping Agency (Phi-NADO).
There is a sense of urgency for Bachmann to boost Phi-NADO.
In fact, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) nearly banned the country from flying its flag in the Olympics after it found out that it is not compliant to its guidelines.
With that, Bachmann and Phi-NADO chairman Dr. Alejandro Pineda worked doubly hard to comply that completely averted the threat of getting banned in the Paris Olympics.
Bachmann said it was a lesson learned for them.
“By 25 April, I will be meeting with BBM (Marcos) for the funding and the additional plantilla position for PhiNADO,” said Bachmann, who first sat down with Marcos last February to discuss how the country can fully comply with the guidelines set by WADA.
“There are no more issues. We complied with everything.”
Bachmann said they are also hoping that the proposed Anti-Doping Bill by Congress will be approved as soon as possible to prevent getting listed again in the non-compliance list of WADA.
In fact, House Committee on Youth and Sports Development chairman and Isabela Rep. Faustino Dy III met with the Senate Committee on Sports and with various local sports leaders and WADA chief compliance manager Emiliano Simonelli were in the House of Representatives last Tuesday to discuss the Anti-Doping Bill.
“The legislation of the Anti-Doping Bill in Congress is aligned with the WADA Code. It may take a little bit longer but I hope we can speed up the process.”
With Filipino athletes making a final push in the Olympic qualifiers in their respective fields, Bachmann made the assurance that the PSC is ready to extend the support needed to boost their chances of making it to the Summer Games.