SEN. Joel Villanueva reiterated the importance of weeding out alleged game-fixing incidents in professional sports leagues, illustrating how integrity in sports could affect the lives of athletes and workers in the sports sector.
“It’s the livelihood of the athletes, coaches, support staff and the whose sports sector that’s on the line here,” Villanueva said in a statement. “Any action that will cast doubt on the integrity of professional sports jeopardizes the livelihood of our athletes, coaches and support staff.”
At the budget deliberations of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) on Monday afternoon, Villanueva sought updates on the board’s efforts to crackdown on alleged game-fixing incidents in professional sports leagues, particularly in the Vis-Min Super Cup two months ago.
“We were disgusted when we saw the video, and imagine my disappointment as a basketball player. I know for a fact that you are going to do something about it. It is challenging because you have to gather pieces of evidence…. Even if you’re not a professional player, you could see in the video that there’s something wrong,” said Villanueva, chair of the Senate finance subcommittee deliberating the budgets of GAB and the Philippine Sports Commission.
GAB chairman Abraham Mitra said that the board was in the final stages of its case buildup, vowing to file charges against individuals who had a hand in the incident, which first came to light on social media.
“Yes, we are doing something about it,” Mitra said. “We are going to file cases against them.”
Villanueva also commited to source funds to enable the country to send delegations to international sporting competitions, citing the recent achievements of Filipino athletes at the Tokyo Olympics where the country hauled four medals—the most by any Southeast Asian nation—including its first gold in nearly 100 years.
“Our medalists in Tokyo and in other international competitions showed the importance of sports development in the country,” he said. “As a former national athlete myself, I have seen the power of sports to unify a nation.”
“I hope that the budgets of our sports agencies next year will be an instrument to seek, train and support more athletes who will bring honor and glory to our country,” he added.