BEIJING—Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William Ramirez is worried the country’s Olympic program beyond Beijing would slow down to a turtle’s pace, or worse, to a halt.

This after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) scratched from the PSC’s allocation in the General Appropriations Act for 2009 its P30 million Olympic Training Program budget.

“We just wonder why it was scratched by the DBM. I don’t know why. We need the budget to continue our program for the Olympics, which would focus on the London 2012 Games,” Ramirez told Manila reporters Saturday night.

The PSC has two sources of funds—the government’s General Appropriations and the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).

The NSDF is primarily sourced from the PSC’s shares from the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp., which, at present, is pegged at 2.5 percent of the gaming body’s net income—a figure the PSC also continues to contest, stressing the law mandates a 5-percent, not 2.5, share.

“But I am not losing hope. I would try to talk with the President [Arroyo] and with Congress,” said Ramirez.

Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports, and his counterpart in the House, Rep. Cesar Jalosjos (Third District, Zamboanga del Norte), are behind the PSC’s effort to include the P30-million Olympic Training Program fund, according to Ramirez.

The two lawmakers attended the Olympics’ opening ceremonies. Honasan left for Manila Saturday while Jalosjos, a former karateka now an avid scuba diver, stayed behind to observe the Games.

Although the DBM budget recommendation is deemed final, Ramirez said Malacañang could still interfere and include the Olympic budget as an “insertion.”

“That is why we have become serious with our Olympic gold-medal bid and this we are doing [for the past two years] through this budget,” the chairman added.  

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