...t's hard to be a philippine athlete

i don't think pacquiao got his funding from the government. the reason he was supported by politicians is that they have vested interests. though he may be financed by politicians, it was from their personal pockets, not from the government funds. he was financed and supported by politicians because, well, it's gambling. and i wonder why the filipinos love the azkals when the popular ones were not even really filipinos. there was a time when these athletes were supported or maybe even prioritized by our government. that was the time of michael keon. though not much financially, the government's initiative was evident. ok, i don't know it firsthand. but i heard alot of "rumors" about it.

Yup, I pity our athletes. They surely can't expect these athletes to bring us the gold medals because no solid support has been given by the government. I hope the government would show equal treatment to all our athletes. I've seen Azkals living a luxurious life as athletes. They even own a luxury van. What about the rest? I'm sure seeing this breaks their heart. I think Manny Pacquiao is our last hope. May he share his blessings even some more to these athletes.

same is the case with all countries. every one has faced the same problems. the best thing to do is to keep doing what you are good at. and leave the rest to the almighty.. i am sure he has a plan. he might take a while to unviel it to you but he sure will soon. just stay patient.

well isnt that the case with most of d developing or under developed nations..? that is the case in india too, thats where i am from.. there isnt much money in athletics.. no sponsers private or government..

i don't know about allocating funds for national athletes, i mean we already know that most government officials are corrupt, even those that are projects for the poor, they steal some of it.. it's better for private companies to support these athletes, the way smart is supporting azkals right now, maybe some other companies can support other athletes with a developing country like ours, first priority is to alleviate poverty, i think it's not really a priority to win an international event.

I think that soon enough there will be support for our athletes but I doubt that it will be from our government. We are facing tough times now and natural calamities are everywhere. Help is not easily given to people needing it. So I think that the sports will be of less priority for now. Taking into consideration that issues of corruption in our country, I think the chance of our athletes to have the support they need is slim. I am hoping still thou that the situation will be better.

Yes, I understand. Here in the US, if you play a sport well, colleges and organizations will fight for you, and you can earn millions and millions of dollars. I WISH I could play a sport especially well. When applying to colleges, they almost EXPECT you to play a sport, or your chances go down. But then again, sports is highly emphasized in the states. I'm originally from China, and when watching the Olympics or any other sports competitions, we almost always cheer for the Chinese. China is still a developing country, but I think that it is well one its way to a developed country, so it is seeing the brighter side of sponsoring sports athletes and such. I guess it's the same case for all developing countries; they need the government funding for more important things, like building the infrastructure. But once they reach a certain point and have the means, they'll fund the athletics. But not to worry, there are things you can do. Our sports' government funding at our school was cut by a large amount, with all of the government cutbacks, so they barely have any to use. We worked hard by organizing people in our community to do fundraisers and walkathons to raise money to support our teams. I don't know if it's the same for professional athletes, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Good luck to you!

Sports are not that much supported by the government because maybe they think that it will be a waste of money because we don't get golds or the highest honor. But once an athlete gets a gold or the highest price, that's the time that they will start giving them support in terms of money and sponsors. It's as if, show me what you got first, before you could be helped.