President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. spoke briefly of Philippine sports during his 1 hour 25-minute long fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday.

PBBM, in this quick mention within what technically was his administration’s accomplishment summary, said sports is important to the country, further claiming that the support for it has ‘tripled’ over the years.

“Mahalaga rin sa atin ang sports. Itinaas natin nang triple ang suporta natin dito. Hindi lamang dahil sa aliw na hatid nito, kundi para sa kalusugan,” Marcos, Jr. said. 

The President was likely referring to the leap in the allocated budget for the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) – the country’s national governing and regulatory agency for sports promotion and development – since he assumed office in 2022.

A quick check on the PSC budget approved in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) would show a considerable increase between the 2022 and 2026 allocations. 

Based on the information accessible through their official website, PSC was granted P725,238,000 in 2022. 

Comparatively, in the 2026 GAA, the sports agency’s budget was pegged at P2,206,808,000– thrice as much as what it got in 2022.

PSC received the following budgetary allocations in the GAA since 2022:

2022 - P725,238,000

2023 - P2,276,700,000

2024 - P1,156,452,000

2025 - P 1,275,155,000

2026 - P2,206,808,000

His supporting premise was anchored on two recent history-making success stories – global tennis star Alex Eala, and the 2027 FIFA World Cup-bound Filipinas (Philippine women’s football team) – which in many ways was a rightful ode to women in sports and their undeniable impact.

PBBM used Eala and the Philippine national women’s football team as examples after claiming that support for sports has tripled, describing them as bastions that could hopefully inspire the next generation of athletes.

“Sa nag-uumapaw nating suporta kay Alex Eala, sana ay marami ang ma-engganyo para matuto at maglaro hindi lamang ng tennis kundi ng iba pang sport,” Marcos, Jr. said, “sa halimbawa naman ng Filipinas women’s football team, sana rin ay mas sumikat pa ang football sa ating bansa at marami ang maglaro. Balang-araw, baka makasali na ang Pilipinas sa World Cup.”