A day in the life of the PSC chairman — on the phone
THIS past period has been for me one of serious worry for William “Butch” Ramirez, the chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission ( PSC). In June, I came across this news headline saying that Ramon Fernandez had taken over his post at the PSC. How could that ever be when Butch has been quite exemplary at the job?
For one thing, the gargantuan task of hosting the 2019 Southeast Asian Games was successfully carried out despite the noticeably short time given for him to do it. The squabbles over which one between the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Committee should hold the event threatened to completely derail the games.
I had occasion to discuss the matter with a high-placed executive of the Clark Development Corp., in whose facilities many of the major games were programmed to be held, who was cocksure in declaring that the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) would not push through.
The guy didn’t know Butch. Proof: Not only did the games overcome all hindrances but the Philippines also ruled as overall champion with a total of 383 medals — 149 golds, 116 silvers and 118 bronzes.
A columnist described tally as a “sweet surprise.”
The guy didn’t know Butch. That harvest of medals actually surpasses those that the Philippines won in the 2005 edition of the SEAG — 112 golds, 85 silvers and 92 bronzes, which also made the Philippines overall champion. That kind of performance, you don’t do sans deliberate design. this
At any rate, what is common between the 2005 and 2019 meets? William “Butch” Ramirez as PSC chairman and lead conductor of those events.
It immediately worries me, therefore, to learn about Butch being edged out of his PSC post.
But reading the news of Fernandez’s takeover, I discover with delight that Butch’s replacement by the legendary basketball hero had nothing at all to do with any issues of competence at the job, and in any case was only temporary because Butch needed to closely attend to his wife, Mercedes, or rather, as Butch dearly calls her, Mercy, who had undergone a gallbladder surgery.
Still, it was unsettling to know that Butch’s wife had been operated on and I am not quite sure about the state of her health afterward. A number of calls and text messages to Butch left unanswered only worsened my worry.
Until last Sunday, when I got a call from a number that was not registered in my cellphone directory. The man on the line broke into a rat-a-tat which for a long while gave me no chance to butt in. “Hi, Mao. This is Butch.” “Oh, Butch! How are you?” “I’m okay. We are all up and about in our jobs. All our programs are on track. We are just about ready to go into our training agenda. Our facilities are in top shape… Hello...”
“Go on, Butch, I’m here.” “Our athletes are excited. They
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez. are eager to do their exercises after some [period] of hibernation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.” “Nice to hear that…”
“I’m okay, Mao. Mercy has recovered…”
That was the most reassuring part of Butch’s talk. That meant he could resume attending to his normal chores as the country’s topmost implementer of sports development.
“Butch,” I said, “the reason I have been trying to reach you is because in his SONA ( State of the Nation Address), President Duterte mentioned the National Sports Academy ( NAS). I want to find out how it came about. As it is, you have made good your resolve to make the country win again the championship in the past 2019 Southeast Asian Games as you did in 2005. Were those not enough credentials that you are doing your job right in training champion- quality athletes? Why the need still for a National Academy of Sports?”
A very candid man, Butch was quick with an answer.
“Well, you see, some legislators just felt they had to come up with measures in that regard, and so they passed Republic Act 11470.”
That was on June 9, 2020, when President Rodrigo Duterte signed the bill into law.
The NAS is a body attached to the Department of Education (DepEd). But being concerned with sports, it has to involve the participation of the PSC, and that is why Butch has been in the thick of preparations for its implementation.
Some reports already have pointed to the New Clark City Sports Complex in Capas, Tarlac as the site of the NAS, though this venue is only just one of those being considered.
“We need a place of high elevation. For instance, we have already visited a site in the highlands of Antipolo in Rizal province and the governor, Rebecca “Nini” Ynares, has voiced agreement to our idea of converting a plateau consisting of some 50 hectares as venue for the academy. Still, we are not discounting the possibility of having the academy built in Samat, Bataan. Gov. Albert Garcia welcomes the idea, considering that the area will soon be accessible to Metropolitan Manila and suburbs with the projected construction of a bridge linking Cavite to Bataan.
And then again, there is Baguio City where Mayor Benjamin Magalong has agreed to provide a site for the academy.”
Butch is heartened to realize things auguring the successful building of the NAS. He admits though that bureaucratic processes may keep the academy from rising too soon. For one thing, building it must pass through the nitty gritty of scrutiny by the National Economic and Development Authority, which must give it the ultimate go-signal.
“This,” Butch said, “in addition to the fact that the academy is a multi- agency undertaking. This needs synchronization of the internal policies of each of these agencies with the cooperative nature of the administration of the academy. The lead agency in this respect is the Department of Education, and DepED already has its comprehensive sports development program, the Palarong Pambansa. How will the academy relate to Palaro or vice versa?”
This is a question which I feel I should look into deeply. In fact, I cited to Butch the cases of the police and the country’s soldiery.
“For training policemen, you have the Philippine National Police Academy. For training military officers, you have the Philippine Military Academy. Why is it that for training athletes, you still have to put up a sports school different from the Philsports sports development program when you have been doing your job excellently in that regard. Proofs are the two SEAG championships you have delivered to the nation?”
“Well, that’s the law, Mao,” Butch said.
“Or politics?”
Isaid, tongue in cheek.
For sure, involved here is a P4.5 billion allocation, surely to be in place in the General Appropriation Act. How do the various agencies tasked with the implementation of the NAS law get to reconcile one another’s fiscal programs with the big allocation for NAS?
“That’s the way it has to be, Mao. When you desire sincere government service, you have to learn how to handle politics well.”
That got me thinking back on my two failed attempts at the mayorship of Antipolo in the 1990s. I had this quixotic attitude of wanting to win on sheer good intention to serve the people — with nary a regard for the fact that I was up against formidable political windmills which you could beat only with money from drugs and illegal gambling.
It’s been more than two decades since then, oh, a number of mayorships down the waters of my political defeat. Had I followed the school principal’s advice of me running for councilor first and finishing number one — the traditional correct process of charting successful political careers of mayors — wouldn’t I have won mayor somewhere down the line anyway and ultimately gone on to deliver maximum government service, albeit in my fading years, after all?
Take it from Butch, you sincerely wish to serve the people, be a master of politics.
He could not have been the advance party head of the Duterte campaign in 2016 for nothing. Look at the tremendous windfall of awards he has gained for the country’s sports AS A MOST fiTTING PERSONAL REWARD.