ONE of the most ideal ways to immortalize the historic achievements of Filipino athletes not only from those in the last two Summer Olympics is through a sports museum inside a stand-alone Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) headquarters.
“We’ve participated in the Olympics for a century, but up to now, the POC still needs to have its own home,” POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino told The Agenda media forum hosted by Siegfred Mison at the Club Filipino in San Juan on Friday.
“My vision about the House of POC includes a museum where the memorabilia of our great athletes, including those of Caloy [Carlos Yulo] and Hidilyn [Diaz-Naranjo], could be viewed by Filipinos,” he said.
Tolentino started advocating for a House of POC after weightlifter Diaz-Naranjo won the country’s first Olympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020 (2021) where boxers Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam also got silvers and Eumir Felix Marcia bagged bronze.
He sought Malacañang’s help then for the project which he recommended to be within the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Complex, but his request was shelved.
“It would be ideal for the House of POC to be close to the airport for accessibility of foreign sports dignitaries who will come for official functions or for a visit,” he said.
Tolentino said he already aired his request to President Ferdinand R. Marcos during the welcome dinner for the Filipino Olympians from Paris led by double gold medalist gymnast Carlos Yulo on Tuesday night in Malacañang.
“The President was receptive to the proposal and I’m hopeful our vision would be realized this time,” he said.
The POC, for the longest time since the country started participating in the Olympics in 1924 in Paris, doesn’t have its own permanent office or headquarters.
“Call it pathetic, but after a hundred years in the Olympics, we still don’t have a house of our own,” he said. “Timor Leste, the smallest among Southeast Asian countries, in fact, has a national Olympic committee headquarters complete with all amenities … the works.”
By amenities, Tolentino meant a museum, multi-purpose hall, office rooms, gym and even a laboratory.
The POC has held a small office at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex for decades before transferring to the PhilSports Complex (formerly Ultra), which is controlled by the Department of Education.
“Many don’t even know that there’s a POC office at the DepEd complex in Pasig,” Tolentino said.
