ITINIGIL na ng Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) ang pagbigay ng tulong pinansiyal sa mga national sports association pati na sa lahat ng mga pambansang atleta dahil sa patuloy na kaguluhan at agawan sa liderato ng Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).
Kahapon ay naglabas ng kanyang opisyal na pahayag si PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez patungkol sa isyu at kontrobersiya sa POC.
“It is the mandate of my office under the Office of the President to be in charge of Philippine sports in the country. This is my statement,” sabi ni Ramirez sa kanyang kalatas.
“The POC must resolve the crisis through adherence to government laws to insure government support and should defuse the crisis quickly. It has been there for a long, long time and as chairman of the PSC, we look at it that the athletes, the coaches, the officials and the whole of Philippine sports, especially the national sports associations (NSAs), must be properly managed.”
Nakatakda namang magpulong ang mga miyembro ng POC sa Lunes, Pebrero 19, pero hindi malinaw kung magkakaroon ng eleksyon o magpapatuloy si Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. sa pamumuno sa POC.
“So in consonance with and in compliance with government laws, it is important that the government has the right to protect itself from unacceptable behavior and acts such as, say, committed by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the sports associations. It has no place in a democratic society and should not be tolerated,” dagdag pa ni Ramirez.
Napag-alaman naman sa Facebook post ni national boxing coach Nolito Velasco na hindi pa natatanggap ng mga pambansang atleta ang kanilang buwanang allowance ngayong buwan.
“I am doing this for unity, I have been doing this from the time I assumed office,” paliwanag ni Ramirez. “Since July 1, 2016, I was already talking to the POC and the NSAs that we wanted unity and it’s almost two years now and it’s getting messy. The time has now come for me to talk since I am duty-bound as Chairman and CEO of the Philippine Sports Commission. I cannot afford to just sit down.”
“We have funding coming from Pagcor for the elite athletes, which is between P600 to P900 million. That amount has been remitted to the sports associations as per records, both direct and indirect. They should resolve the crisis. If not, the government will stop funding if they continue to be divided,” sabi pa nito. “It will affect everybody. It will affect our training, it will affect our preparations for the Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games and the Olympics. This has been going on and we don’t want to be hostage by this. We have to remedy this one quickly. Since I am at the disposal of the President, in my position, I know this is the best thing to do. I have been watching for almost two years and nothing happened. It has become more messy.”
Nanawagan din si Ramirez na magkaisa ang mga namumuno at “stakeholders” ng Philippine sports na magkaisa para sa ikabubuti ng sports sa bansa.
“As head of the PSC, mandated by law and respected by both Houses of Congress and the Office of the President to lead Philippine sports, this is a leadership call to all our partners in the POC and the NSAs,” paliwanag pa nito.
“We have to behave, we have to transform, we have to unite for the sake of our children and for the country, which has so many problems.”