MANILA, 9 April 2004 — Basketball legend-turned-lawmaker Sen. Robert Jaworski is pushing for the government’s full support for local sports in the country beginning with the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.
The 58-year-old former Ginebra San Miguel playing coach said the Philippines should follow the lead taken by China, which is now a world superpower in sports.
“China owes its growing reputation as a world super power in sports to government intervention,” said Jaworski, who is the country’s most popular sportsman for the past three decades. “With the help of our sports leaders, the government should be given the chance to overhaul our sports program and make the country No. 1 again.”
“The Chinese closed the door to the outside world and work feverishly to improve their sports programs. With the help of their NSA’s the Chinese government took the lead in identifying their talents and training them to become world-class athletes. Now, China is an acknowledged world super power not only in sports but in other aspects as well.”
Last year, Jaworski was very vocal in saying that the country should forget about hosting the Southeast Asian Games in 2005.
Jaworski had said the PSC and POC should rethink the country’s readiness to stage the biennial meet, its first since Manila hosted it in 1991.
“Logistics-wise and preparation-wise, I don’t think we should host the 2005 SEA Games,” the senator said. “It sounds great, but are we really ready?”
The basketball legend added that preparing for an event of its magnitude needs a lot of planning to succeed to avoid putting the country to shame amid the other countries participating in the multi-nation tilt.
“I have to see a scientific approach to convince me to support our hosting of the SEA Games,” Jaworski said.
Instead of wasting time, money and effort for the 2005 games, the senator suggested to sports officials present to find the real reasons why the quality of most of the country’s athletes seems to be slipping.
“Look at China. In one stage, they did not participate in any international competition for so many years. They just kept on pounding on their basics. That’s what we need,” Jaworski said.
PSC Chairman Eric Buhain, for his part, asked support from the basketball icon to back up the country’s preparations for the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, saying Jaworski’s hand would be vital in the country’s hosting of the meet.
Buhain had written Jaworski explaining why the Philippines should push through with the 2005 chore, citing the early formation of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc) by President Arroyo is enough guarantee no stone will be left unturned before some 10,000 athletes from the region would set foot in Manila.
“We, in the PSC, understand Senator Jaworski’s position,” Buhain said. “The adrenalin in every athlete is so strong that it was evident in Senator Jaworski that he only wanted a successful staging of the SEA Games. Of course, it is the country’s best face that we’re showing our neighbors.”
“We look up to Senator Jaworski as an idol because of his fighting spirit,” he stressed. “Even during our days as national athletes, he always comes up to mind when we say we’ll never die out there. We gave our best and did our best to win, and that’s what we are assuring Senator Jaworski, the Filipino will never say die and he knows that’s every Filipino’s attitude during the most trying times.”
Jaworski also defended the government against criticisms that it is meddling too much in local sports through the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
“I don’t see anything wrong (government intervention) with it,” said Jaworski, who is running for re-election under the K-4 party of President Macapagal Arroyo.
He slammed Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Celso Dayrit and his supporters for accusing the PSC of government intervention in the hosting of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG).
“The government has all the right to intervene, especially in making sure the funds allocated in sports development is properly used,” said Jaworski, who has also authored Republic Act No. 9064 or the Sports Benefits and Incentives Act of 2001 and Republic Act No. 8757 which established the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame.
“By all means the government should be on top of this and take an active part in the preparations for the hosting of the SEA Games next year,” said Jaworski. “In the first place, it is the country’s pride at stake. We just cannot allow the country to be endlessly bracketed with mediocrity.”
The 1978 PBA MVP reiterated his calls to local sports officials to work together to restructure the country’s sports programs.
“We need to make drastic changes to attain excellence and competitiveness in sports.”
Jaworski, however, expressed hopes in the Filipinos’ ability to rise to the challenge. “The Filipino people can be compared to a bamboo tree, which can adopt to even themost trying situations.” Jaworski stressed that a sound sports program would be beneficial to the whole country.
“Excellence rubs on the people,” he said. Jaworski also vowed to help restore lost glory to Philippine basketball, even if it would mean returning to the sport as head coach of the next national team.
After the RP cage team finished out of the medal in the just-concluded Asiad wars in Busan, Jaworski said there “is now the urgent need to get together and regroup and recover at the quickest possible time.’’
