PSC vows full support for qualifiers, would-be qualifiers for Olympics

THE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) would go as far as scraping the bottom in fulfilling its support for athletes who have either qualified for the postponed Olympics or are still trying to earn their tickets to Tokyo.

“The PSC board will support the athletes for as long as the agency can,” PSC Chairman William Ramirez said on Thursday, “The investment of both government and the athletes for their Olympic dream couldn’t be set aside that easily.”

The PSC is cash strapped by the Covid-19 pandemic because casinos remain shuttered. Malacañang also redirected the budget from general appropriations of all government agencies—the PSC’S P1.3 billion funds included—back to the Department of Budget and Management for the campaign against the pandemic.

The PSC draws much of its funds from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., but without the casinos, the gaming agency’s monthly remittances drastically dropped from an average P150 million to only P9 million last month.

Four Filipinos already qualified for the Tokyo Games reset for July 23 to August 8, 2021. They are pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo and boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno.

“We will not waiver in our quest to fulfill the country’s Olympic dream and we are very hopeful that more athletes will be able to qualify once the situation gets better,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez added that Rio 2016 weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, taekwondo jin Pauline Lopez and karateka Junna Tsukii are still in the running for the Olympics.

“It’s a tough situation but we understand the priorities of the national government. We will do what we can to continue the support we give to our athletes especially those vying for an Olympic slot,” Ramirez said.