National Academy of Sports Bill Gets Ratified by Senate

Sooner or later, young Filipinos who wished to take up a career in any professional sports can enroll in the country's first-ever National Academy of Sports.

Just yesterday, the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines ratified the bicameral conference committee report that will establish the said academy. The ratified report which is a consolidated version of both House Bill Number 6312 and Senate Bill Number 1086, aims to transform the New Clark City Sports Complex in Tarlac, into the main campus of the National Academy of Sports (NAS). 

The NAS will then be attached to the Department of Education and will work in close coordination with the Philippine Sports Commission. Having a sports-oriented school such as the NAS will grant students priority access to facilities available at the New Clark City Sports Complex and that, the proposal also mandates the establishment of high schools for sports in other regions of the country and those schools will be funded by the nationals government. 

In a speech, Senator Bong Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports and the co-author of the Senate version, he said that he "firmly believes that with this measure, we will be able to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of sports development". He went on to thank his fellow lawmakers for supporting one of the priority measures that was announced by President Rodrigo Duterte during his State of the Nation Address in 2019. 

Senator William Gatchalian added that the ratification of the NAS bill "would provide a significant boost in Philippine sports development."

And while the bill's main objective is to provide an educational institution that will allow students to excel in sports, the NAS's establishment will also give importance in teaching aspiring athletes to achieve academic excellence. After all, you can only be an athlete for a certain period of time. 

In a separate statement, PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez lauded the ratification of the NAS bill in saying that the latest development will be a "great boost to the country's efforts to build a deeper grassroots sports program that feeds the country's cache of elite athletes."

With the NAS bill ratified by the Senate and only needing the president's signature for it to become a law, it will help a lot of Filipino students whose talents will be put to good use and more importantly, they will be properly educated on how to be a great Filipino athlete whom we'll be proud of cheering in the big games. 

Photo is from The Filipino Times