One-on-one with Richie Garcia

NAKAKUHA lamang ng 29 gintong medalya ang Pilipinas sa katatapos na 27th Southeast Asian Games sa Myanmar. Sa labing-isang bansa, lumapag sa ikapitong puwesto ang Pilipinas. Ito na ang pinakamababang pagtatapos ng bansa sa SEA Games. Ano naman kaya ang masasabi ni Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia patungkol sa kampanyang ito ng Pilipinas sa Myanmar. Nakausap ni Bandera correspondent Eric Dimzon ang butihing PSC chairman at narito ang kanyang pahayag.

Ano ang masasabi mo sa performance ng Pilipinas sa nakaraang SEAG?

I really think, as far as performance of our athletes is concerned, I could not really complain. We could have done better with the end result because there were so many instances na dapat panalo na tayo pero natalo pa.

Classic example is swimming. Gold medal na, binawi pa. Even in boxing, lamang na lamang ang boxer natin for two rounds. Pero nasugatan lang bigla nilang dinesisyunan ng TKO.

Also, there was an incident in muay where apat na beses bumagsak ang kalaban pero talo pa rin. And many more subjective sports. So we should have ended at sixth place. In that respect,

I feel disappointed. Not with the performance of our athletes but with the decisions and officiating of the Games.

Were you surprised that we dropped to 7th place?

I predicted a seventh place for the country even before the games started. It was a no-brainer. We missed out on 16 medals because of the events that were cancelled by the host country.

If you add the 16 medals to our output, we would have a total of 45 gold medals. Plus the 5-6 gold medals that we lost sa maling desisyon, we could have won 50 gold medals. That, would have been good for fifth place.

Pero dahil nga sa dagdag-bawas ng events, we ended up at seventh. That is why my assessment is that our athletes did well.

Masasabi mo bang tama ang naging desisyon ng POC at PSC na ipadala lamang ang mga gold medal hopefuls sa Myanmar?

The reason for that decision of the POC and PSC is based on previous experience. When we sent 620 athletes to the SEAG in 2007, we only won 41 gold medals. In 2009, we sent 253 athletes, we won 38 gold medals.

In 2011, 520 athletes were sent and we won 36 golds. It was not the number but the quality. So we sent 210, we won 29. But there were a lot of events that were scrapped to our disadvantage.

Regardless of the number of athletes that you send, ganun pa rin ang mapapanalunang gold medals. In doing this, not only did we send only the best but we saved a lot of money as well.

We saved on airfare, food, hotel accommodations and allowances. We saved around P40 million. We can now use that amount to improve our facilities.

What’s next for Philippine sports after the SEAG?

There must be an overhaul in Philippine sports. We must put up a good training center. As long as we train our athletes in Rizal Memorial, we will not be able to produce world-class athletes.

The environment in Rizal is not healthy for the athletes. There is too much pollution and noise in Rizal. When athletes go out, all the vices are there. All the other countries in Southeast Asia already have their own world-class training centers.

Sports is not an overnight thing. After spotting potential national athletes, you need to train them, feed them, school them. And every move we make costs money. I issued a challenge to everyone to show me a program that does not cost money.

All the critics have been saying why not tap the private sector for funds. But we have been tapping the private sector. The only problem is, sponsors only like to get into popular sports.

Would they like to sponsor sepak takraw? Madaling sabihin na hahanap tayo ng sponsor, padrino or godfather. Our popular sports are well-funded. But the lesser known sports are struggling with funds.

Is this the worst finish in SEAG for PH?

I tell you, this is not the worst. It could get worst later on. Madaling sabihin na worst finish tayo sa SEAG. But who is willing to put in the money? We cannot really rely on government alone as it has bigger problems.

We are not lacking in programs. We have the Batang Pinoy to start them young. Ang hinihingi lang namin dito is konting understanding from the public.

And for the media to help explain the situation. Kulang ba ng programa? O kulang ng facilities at pondo? Because as I said, every move you make costs money. I don’t mean to say na pera lang ang iniisip namin.

I am glad to say that since our term, the funds are well spent. Wala kaming ghost projects or ghost athletes. We have savings but we spend that on improving facilities and maintenance.

We buy new equipment. In the last SEAG, ‘yung mga bisikleta used by our cyclists cost P4 million alone.