MANILA, Philippines – With the Olympics looming as the only major event next year, the Philippine Sports Commission feels the timing is perfect to reorganize its long-term objectives and rectify past mistakes.
PSC chair Richie Garcia said most of their efforts would be devoted to improving the operations and programs of the government sports agency since the country’s participation in the 2012 London Olympics would not be as taxing as the Southeast Asian Games.
Sports officials usually send no more than 15 Filipino athletes from various disciplines to the Olympics.
For London 2012, only boxer Mark Anthony Barriga has qualified so far. One or two more boxers, however, are expected to make it apart from one each from sports with mandatory participation such as athletics and swimming.
“We’re lucky in the sense that 2012 is an Olympic year. It’s not a busy year for both the POC (Philippine Olympic Committee) and the PSC because few athletes will qualify to the Olympics,” said Garcia.
Taekwondo, a perennial ambassador for the Philippines in the past three Olympiads, failed to book a ticket to London after a string of misfortunes in two qualifying events this year—the World Taekwondo Championship in Gyeongju, South Korea in May and the Asian Qualification Tournament in Bangkok last month.
“This is the best time to really reorganize because we’re not preparing for any participation in any major event aside from the Olympics,” said Garcia.