Press Release
October 2, 2019

Co-Sponsorship Speech: Philippine High School for Sports Act
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri
2 October 2019

Having been happily involved in competitive sports in my youth,I know first-hand how greatly beneficial it is to have a childhood where I could freely pursue my interest in sports. It instilled in me a great understanding of the importance of health and well-being, as well as instilling in me the value of discipline, hard work, and team work.

It is so vital that the youth are given avenues to experience and pursue various passions, so they may select for themselves what they wish to develop further. For myself, and for so many other Filipinos, that passion is sports, but few of us ever get the chance to seriously pursue it, given that most of our schools accord physical education a secondary status in favour of academics. This is a shame, since many of our youth show exceptional potential in sports.

Those Filipino athletes that do go on to accomplish great things have done sodespite, and not because of, the physical education curriculum of our schools. They have somehow found ways to triumph, even under unfavourable circumstances--that is, even with the lack of educational support. With educational support, I have no doubt that our athletes will accomplish even bigger feats.

It is my pleasure, then, to co-sponsor the Philippine High School for Sports (PHSS) Act, which I feel to be a timely and necessarymove to support our young athletes. The PHSS will provide genuinely holistic education to our students, nurturing them in mind and in body. With the PHSS, I am certain we will see many more Manny Pacquiaos, Ramon Fernandezes, and Hidilyn Diazes. I also filed a related bill, the Philippine Sports Academy, which will cater to athletes of all ages and which will be the sports academy arm of the Philippine Sports Commission. I am certain that with all these bills which will further hone the talents of Filipino athletes, we can produce more world and international champions in the field of sports.

In this spirit of holistic education, I enjoin our colleagues to see to the passage of the Philippine High School for Sports Act. Thank you.

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