The “O” stands for Olympic while the “S” stands for sports. One is named the Philippine Olympic Committee and the other, Philippine Sports Commission.
Why does our country have two sporting bodies? I don’t know. They call it “separation of powers.” I call it a headache. Why not just have one sports superbody? We know what happens when two people, both brandishing oversized egos and clasping immense clout, rule over the same arena. They fight. Like boxers. And for the past years, our PSC and POC leaders have engaged in boxing.
Well, if you consider that boxing is a sport then, yes, it’s good. But this is bad. Every time politics is injected in the noble pursuit of sports, it’s bad.
This PSC-POC tug-of-war ought to change. Now. And very timely, with our new commander-in-chief soon to assume a new first name—President—it’s the perfect time for Benigno Simeon Aquino III to merge these two warring bodies. The POC and the PSC should be one. Call it POSC or PSOC—it doesn’t matter—just don’t call it PCOS. What matters is that RP Sports look up to one leader in the same way that, when we speak of Tourism, we have but one chieftain, Ace Durano.
Michael Keon was such a man for sports. During the reign of Ferdinand Marcos as president, Mr. Keon (who was Marcos’ nephew) was the director of the Gintong Alay program. This started in October 1979. Because of this one-leader-for-all-of-sports philosophy, we achieved prominence in the international stage. Remember Lydia De Vega?
I hope Noynoy does the same. He must take advantage of this opportunity because the current POC chairman is his uncle, Jose “Peping” Cojuangco. One option: instead of appointing a new chairperson for the PSC, why not just make Peping (the brother of Cory) the head of all sports nationwide? Or, if the 75-year-old Peping is too old for the position and Noynoy prefers a younger, more athletic leader, then he choose one. What’s essential is one leader for RP sports.
