The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has submitted a supplementary budget request of 450 million pesos in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) to help Philippine national athletes prepare for five major international competitions by 2022.
In a statement, POC Chairman Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said he submitted the request letter to Senate Chairman Vicente “Tito” Sotto III through the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Speaker of the House, Lord Allan Velasco, and Chairman of the Philippine Athletic Commission (PSC), William “Butch” Ramirez.
The 450 million pesos are divided into 5 million pesos for the Winter Olympics (Beijing, February 4-20), 150 million pesos for the Sixth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games or AIMAG (Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand, March 10-20) and 10 pesos. million for The World Games or TWG (Birmingham, Alabama, USA, July 7-22).
270 million pesos are allocated for the 19th Asian Games (Hangzhou, China, September 10-25) while the remaining 15 million pesos are for the Fifth Asian Youth Games or AYG (Shantou, China, December 20-28 ).
“Participation in these high-level sporting events is really important because they only take place every four years,” Tolentino said in the request letter dated Monday.
“Participation in these sporting events will not only showcase the Filipino brand of athletic talent, but more so will lift the morale of our athletes and inspire other young Filipinos to engage in athletic training and development.”
Tolentino, also head of cycling, said the budget was based on the number of athletes participating, their events and the costs of training them.
The POC expects the Asian Games to have the most participants, ranging from 250 to 275 athletes, followed by AIMAG with 160 athletes, AYG with 15 to 20 and the Winter Olympics with three. to four athletes.
The World Games, on the other hand, are held at the invitation of international federations that are not on the calendar of the Summer or Winter Olympics.
Tolentino also revealed that possible additional expenses for the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA) in Vietnam were also indicated in the request, but not in the actual budget matrix. The estimated funding for the postponed biennial meeting is set at 200 million pesos. – LA, GMA News