THE Philippines is set to compete in five international meets this year and a big budget allocation that the Philippine Sports Commission is setting aside will be a big help to the country’s series of campaign this year.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino said this as legislators made provisions to give a bigger budget allocation to the government sports agency, amounting to P1.3 billion.
“That’s good for the athletes and the program. More budget, more athletes, more programs,” said Tolentino, following Wednesday’s General Assembly meeting of the POC at the East Ocean Palace Restaurant in Paranaque.
Sources said legislators at the Senate are finalizing the financial allotment to sports.
The Senate Committee on Sports, headed by Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, initially had a budget proposal of P800 million, which has since gone up.
The POC hopes to send more athletes to the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, set from Dec. 9 to 20 in Thailand.
Tolentino has named surfing chief Dr. Raul Canlas as the chef de mission of the biennial meet.
The POC president said a deadline of Jan. 20 has been set for the submission of entries by number.
Meanwhile, 20 athletes will make up the Philippine delegation to the Asian Winter Games, slated from Feb. 7 to 14 in Harbin, China, while an undetermined number will be deployed to the World Games in Chengdu from Aug. 7 to 17.
The roster for the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain this October is being assembled, alongside the participants in the Esports Olympics in Riyadh from Dec. 7 to 14.