Palace, PSC hail Filipino athletes

Malacañang yesterday thanked the Filipino athletes who participated in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi and brought honor to the country.

“Mabuhay ang galing ng atletang Pinoy sa Hanoi,” said acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar at a press briefing. “Thank you very much for the honor you gave to the Philippines.”

Meanwhile, Philippine Sports Commission chairman William Ramirez lauded the Filipino athletes for their solid fourth-place finish in the Games despite the challenges they faced amidst the pandemic.

“Our performance in bringing home 52 gold, 70 silver, and 104 bronze medals and in placing fourth overall in the medal standings was a good finish despite the various challenges our national athletes had to face amid the COVID-19 pandemic before competing in Vietnam,” said Ramirez.

“It would have been a very good finish had we converted 50 percent of our silvers (to gold) and bronzes (to silver),” he added.

It wouldn’t have happened though without the hard work of the national athletes as well as the allout support provided for by the PSC as well as the Philippine Olympic Committee and the private sector.

“You need money for coaches, both local and foreign, airfare, transportation and hotel for international exposure to season them, plus the logistical support like proper nutrition, sports psychology, and medicine for athletes discovered abroad or locally,” said Ramirez.

To continue and sustain the country’s pursuit for excellence in international competitions, Ramirez said the agency renewed its commitment to support the national team through the remittances from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

“The PSC still has to get the five percent of its gross income as required by Republic Act 6847 that created the government sports agency. This gross income needs to be remitted by PAGCOR to the PSC so we can fund these two fundamental purposes the government sports agency was created for,” he added.

He mentioned that the country’s success in the Tokyo Olympics, where Filipinos achieved a milestone of one gold from Diaz, two silvers from boxers Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio, and a bronze from fellow pug Eumir Felix Marcial.