Philippine Sports News and Updates

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the strengthening of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) grassroots program to develop potential Olympic gold medalists in boxing, chess and other sports and improve their reading and Math skills.

Arroyo, in Executive Order (EO) 651, said Filipinos have excelled in international competitions in sports like boxing and that the Philippines aspires to have at least one gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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She said studies in the US and Canada showed that children who played chess performed better and received higher scores in reading and Math tests. She said the results of the studies are in line with the goal of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan to strengthen education in Math, Science and English.

Basketball, considered in the Philippines as the national past time, was not specifically mentioned in EO651.

Under EO651, Arroyo said the grassroots program for each sport shall be managed by a task force to be composed of representatives from the PSC as chairman, the Philippine Olympic Committee as co-chairman, the relevant sports federation as program director, and the Philippine University Games and business community as members.

She said each task force shall appoint from among its members a full-time operating officer who will direct the day-to-day operations of the program.

She said the program shall consist of the early recruitment and training phase, development and training of the talents of the National Training Pool for the appropriate certification, and the elite training and preparation for into competitions in order to obtain an Olympic gold medal or Grandmaster title.

She said the program shall have a budget of P50 million which will be drawn from the mandatory contribution of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to the PSC, in addition to the PSC's yearly budget. She said the PSC is also authorized to conduct fund-raising activities to augment its budget.

Arroyo said among the goals of the grassroots program are the: implementation of a comprehensive educational and training program for boxing, chess and other sports with Olympic gold potentials in coordination with various sectors; discovery of special talent and skills in such sports and the honing of such talents; development of a pool of grade school and high school scholars in chess and sports with Olympic gold potentials who will be given training and financial support; support for aspiring Masters and Olympic medalists to gain their titles; and conduct of awareness campaigns to promote the said sports.

Source: Sun.Star Manila