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PSC's Eala urges 'responsible autonomy' over sports funds

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Manolo Pedralvez

Keenly aware of the need of having a complete five-member board of the Philippine Sports Commission, PSC chairperson Noli Eala announced Thursday that he was assured by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin that the three remaining board members would be announced by Malacanang &quot;very soon.&quot;&quot;As I told the representatives of the National Sports Associations at the start of the consultative meeting this morning, I had a meeting with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin yesterday (Wednesday) and he said the remaining commissioners will be appointed very soon,&quot; Eala said.&quot;I believe it (the appointments of the three remaining commissioners) will be forthcoming after that meeting,&quot; he stressed in a press briefing after the morning session with the National Sports Association leaders held at the Philippine International Convention Center. &quot;Talagang crippled kami (we are crippled) since we are only two in the board while awaiting the appointment of the three others,&quot; acknowledged the PSC chief, referring to commissioner Olivia &quot;Bong&quot; Coo, who was actually the first to receive her appointment papers from the Palace ahead of Eala.He said that he and Coo have been prompted to make certain &quot;adjustments to our policies&quot; in addressing the needs of the national athletes and NSAs, especially in funding international competitions that normally require proper PSC board resolutions. &quot;We have been working the requests of the NSAs very closely so that their fundings requests are approved,&quot; he said. Among the financial support that has already been approved is the participation of the national weightlifting squad led by Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz to the world weightlifting championships, an Olympic qualifying event, in December in Bogota, Colombia.Also given support was the national boxing squad that will see action in Asian Elite Senior Boxing Championships scheduled October 30 to November 12 in Amman, Jordan.&quot;Hopefully, some of those efforts we have done currently will be enough to help the NSAs. This is where tact and diplomacy (with our NSAs) come in,&quot; Eala said, adding that these actions are needed to be ratified once the PSC board is functioning properly.He said that this was why he emphasized to the officials of the the NSAs and Philippine Olympic Committee led by POC president Abraham &quot;Bambol&quot; Tolentino to exercise &quot;responsible autonomy&quot; regarding the financial support and other aid given to them by the government sports agency.&quot;We will respect the autonomy of the NSA but it has to be what I can describe as &#x27;responsible autonomy.&#x27; We we will not interfere in implementing their programs and how to run their NSAs. But public funds are being used for their sports programs and that is what we (the PSC and NSAs) are responsible for,&quot; he pointed out. &quot;This consultative meeting is meant to iron out the kinks in our relationship with the NSAs, the beginning of a dialogue between our partners as they bring their concerns to us and we bring our concerns to them,&quot; he added.<div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/psc.gov.ph/posts/pfbid02EAC11ucpdjVsH5DSLF7cJjEyr4ZdWGzybp2BnHEF4T1ctSxs92YLQN9jrVy6cCetl" data-width="auto"> </div>The PSC chief saiid that the framework of cooperation and relationship among the three parties was patterned after the &quot;Agenda 2020&quot; of the International Olympic Committee &quot;wherein local sports organizations should follow and respect the domestic law.&quot;He cited &quot;the always problematic area of liquidations and disbursements&quot; of the PSC to the NSAs that has more often than not resulted in friction between the government sports agency and delinquent ones that have failed to clear their books. To this end, Eala brought along Atty. Kenneth Joy Quimio of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Jeorge Lozano of the Commission on Audit to brief the sports officials on the guidelines and documents in making transactions with the PSC. &quot;They (Quimio and Lozano) can help in their (NSAs) compliance with the regulations of the government. Hindi ito pahirap (this not meant to be a burden). Even the IOC recognizes this responsibility and accountability,&quot; Eala pointed out.He mentioned what Sen. Bong Go, who co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee meeting and is the Senate Sports Committee chairman, said during the Senate hearing last Monday on the PSC&#x27;s proposed P5.216 billion budget for 2023.&quot;Sabi nga ni Sen. Bong Go na dapat isang kusing ay dapat pangalagaan, dapat nating pangalaagan ang pondo ng bayan (Sen. Bong Go said that every centavo spent by the PSC should be safeguarded, that government funds should be protected),&quot; Eala said.&quot;If some NSAs can do it (regarding liquidation), I see no reason why others cannot.&quot;<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Officers from the PSC, POC and PPC pose for posterity during the PSC-hosted coordination meeting with NSAs at the PICC on Thursday. The officers include POC board member Dave Carter (back, from left), PSC deputy executive director Christine Abellana; PSC executive director Atty. Guillermo Iroy Jr., and COA auditor Jeorge Lozano. At the front are PSC deputy executive director Merly Ibay (from left), POC board member Pearl Managuelod, POC treasurer Cynthia Carrion, PPC president Mike Barredo, POC president Bambol Tolentino, PSC chairman Noli Eala, POC chairman Steve Hontiveros, PSC commissioner Bong Coo, and POC deputy secretary-general Bones Floro. Handout" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/sports/10/13/20221013-psc-eala1.jpg"/><figcaption>Officers from the PSC, POC and PPC pose for posterity during the PSC-hosted coordination meeting with NSAs at the PICC on Thursday. The officers include POC board member Dave Carter (back, from left), PSC deputy executive director Christine Abellana; PSC executive director Atty. Guillermo Iroy Jr., and COA auditor Jeorge Lozano. At the front are PSC deputy executive director Merly Ibay (from left), POC board member Pearl Managuelod, POC treasurer Cynthia Carrion, PPC president Mike Barredo, POC president Bambol Tolentino, PSC chairman Noli Eala, POC chairman Steve Hontiveros, PSC commissioner Bong Coo, and POC deputy secretary-general Bones Floro. Handout</figcaption></figure></div>Eala likewise announced during the consultative meeting with the country&#x27;s top sports officials the two main programs of the PSC&#x27;s national sports development plan during his term.&quot;There are two components of the national sports development plan that we presented to the NSAs and the POC today. The grassroots component is called he &#x27;Duyan ng Magiting&#x27; or &#x27;Cradle of the Brave&#x27; in English,&quot; he said.&quot;There is a whole range of programs at the grassroots pursuant to our mandate which begins from the entry level and progressing to the Batang Pinoy and Philippine National Games,&quot; Eala explained.Along this line, the PSC chief said he has asked President Ferdinand &quot;Bongbong&quot; Marcos Jr. to sign an executive order in reactivating the sports development councils nationwide under the PSC law that will serve as the implementing arm of grassroots sports programs starting at the barangay level.The other initiative of the PSC&#x27;s overall sports master plan during his term will be the &quot;Project: Gintong Laban&quot; or &quot;Golden Fight&quot; that will be targeted for the national or elite athletes.&quot;This will be our high-performance program that will prepare our elite athletes for the highest levels through raising funds from the private sector outside from the PSC&#x27;s National Sports Development Fund,&quot; he said.He said this will be different from the old godfather scheme under &quot;Project: Gintong Alay&quot; during the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. where corporations or tycoons supported just one sport.&quot;Under the tweaked &#x27;Gintong Laban&#x27; we will pool these resources and distribute them equitably to our NSAs and national athletes,&quot; he said.

Eala said the PSC will not get in the way of how sports bodies run their programs, but public funds provided them should be used responsibly.