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How the Government Fails Filipino Athletes

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Artwork by Marie Louies Nicole

How the Government Fails Filipino Athletes

  • In 2019, Hidilyn Diaz revealed that she was struggling to fund her bid to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Duterte supporters saw this as an attack against the President, so they attacked Diaz viciously and accused her of being arrogant and ungrateful. It all culminated when Diaz was included in the ‘Oust Duterte’ matrix, presented by then Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo. For being vocal about her struggles, she was maliciously red-tagged and sent ill-wishes by Duterte supporters.
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Hidilyn Diaz’ Facebook post in 2019 where she begged for support to fund her Olympic bid. Source: ABS-CBN News
  • Para-athletes Edwin Villanueva and Adrian Asul, who are part of the Philippine Paralympic swimming team, said that they have still not received their allowances in 2019 from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) since joining the national training pool two years prior. The para-athletes have also lamented that the government even failed to provide them food allowance and decent lodging during their training.
  • Eumir Marcial, Filipino boxer, recently shared that Thirdy Ravena would contribute financially for his bid to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Ravena, the celebrated basketball player from Ateneo de Manila University, pledged that he would chip in to Marcial’s expenses after seeing the latter’s social media post asking for donations and sponsorship.
  • Olympic boxing qualifier, Irish Magno, recently revealed that she was unable to focus on her training because she was worried if her family could even eat regularly. She said that the allowance she receives from the government was delayed and enough only for her training needs. She was unable to send money to her family in the province.
  • Filipino tennis player Alex Eala and her family rebuffed the claim made by the PSC that the commission provided her P3 million pesos aid for her training. The Eala family stated that for Alex’ participation in the Grand Slam and other tournaments, they were yet to receive “a single centavo” for her travel expenses and training.
  • Filipino chess player and grand master, Wesley So, had to switch allegiance just so he could thrive in his sport. So used to compete for the Philippines but he was pushed to his limits when the PSC withheld incentives after he won a gold medal in a competition that the commission did not officially recognize. So now competes under the US flag.
  • Michael Martinez, Filipino figure skater, recently announced his fundraising campaign for a shot at the 2022 Winter Olympics. In a Facebook post, Martinez shared his GoFundMe page and Gcash account where people can donate any amount. To augment his expenses, Martinez sells online content.

“Filipino athletes not only have to compete in their respective sports, they also have to compete with each other for scarce resources.”

Mabuhay ang atletang Pinoy!

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The work of Preda Foundation is focused on alleviating the physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse and suffering of children and preventing abuse through community education and social media.

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