Understanding Nation Building (Part 8)
In this post we discuss the problem of Sports as indicated by Blueprints for Viable Philippines.
Blueprint:
The Situation: The state of sports in the Philippines is appalling. Physical education is not getting sufficient attention — especially as an important means in inculcating values in the development of our youth.
BLUEPRINT Analysis: There is no strategic education and national sports program. Moreover, the ambiguous relationship between national sports associations (NSAs) and the government causes further confusion and turfing problems.
BLUEPRINT Recommendations: Develop and implement a national sports development program. Rationalize the relationship between government and the NSAs. Give preferential support to the development of sports where Filipinos have the potential to excel internationally such as boxing, martial arts, bowling, billiards, badminton, etc.
Big Mango:
You know analysis like this reminds me about that JFK quote. I know he's American but his words are apt in our case, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.
It seems to me that every little problem gets passed to the top. Sports is a big issue that shouldn't have to be looked into by the National Government. In fact, there are thousands of sports organizations in the Philippines and other non-governmental organization like the Rotary Club, or the Kiwanis Club and similar groups that can make Sport their priority. And of course there are the various schools and local governments.
Don't tell me this doesn't work because there have been one or two news items in the pass decade about Little League Players winning this and that and going to the United States just to compete.
Why do we need a comprehensive national program for sports when the best determination of such a program is in the various local governments, in the various sports clubs and the multitude of gyms that have sprang up all over the country. Filipinos are sports minded. Just like every other Tom, Ivan, Joe, Mao or whatever.
As for National Competitions like the Olympics and such, isn't that why we have a National Olympic Committee? And with all those Non-Government Organizations, wouldn't it be more practical that our initiatives come from people who can donate time, money and other resources, if only they'd have a creative plan for it?
Sports shouldn't be a problem of the National Government. We each should be concerned about it. All it takes is a bit of initiative from those who are into sports to come out with creative solutions to their dilemma--- what would it take to compete and succeed in a competition? Just like in a business, just like in any endeavor, there has to be a plan, a whole lot of study on the competition and use all this information to our advantage.
Sports should be an issue of Non-Government Organizations and Sports Club and Educational institutions. And come to think of it, its also a role parents have a say in, especially when their kid exhibts some interest or talent in a particular sport. We should stop with this centralize thinking about the passing the problem to the National Government when we each can do something for it in our own little way.
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2 comments:
When I was reading parts of the Blueprint (I haven't read everything yet), I noticed that the authors placed too much emphasis on the role of the State. It seems to me that to them, national salvation is largely dependent on government rather than on the citizenry.
To me, this is a fundamental issue because a certain economic philosophy seems to be the foundation of the document, i.e., Keynesian economics - where emphasis is on the role of the state: centralized planning, intervention, subsidies, over regulation, and ownership by government of the so-called "commanding heights."
I totally agree with you in Part II of your post that the general rule should be "government should stay out" and that the exception should be "government regulation and intervention only when needed." The Blueprint seems to promote the opposite. How many times in this Blueprint do we see the phrase ‘The State shall . . .”
In other words, the philosophy that permeates the Blueprint is one that has seen better days - -where government's role loomed large especially during post-WWII reconstruction and cold war politics.
I would have been more comfortable if the Blueprint had, as its underlying philosophy, the supremacy of markets and private initiative, i.e., where markets and private initiative have dominant roles and where government merely has a supportive role (Hayek/Friedman economic philosophies).
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Just a suggestion: I think your blog is worth reading by others. Thus, you might want to register at
http://www.pinoytopblogs.com/ so that people can search your blog and others can learn more about your site.
Also, I foresee more people posting comments in the future. There might be a way to make a separate link for comments so that they are not posted on the same page as your posts. Most blogs have that interface and you might want to explore revamping that part of your blog so as to avoid the clutter that comments sometimes brings. Just a suggestion in anticipation of the deluge of readers in the future. :-)
You can disregard my last line about comment interface. Looks like I saw another interface earlier. Looks like your posts are separate from the comments.
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