Senator Christopher "Bong" Go yesterday commended the country's women athletes following the 1st Women in Sports Awards held at the historic Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Coinciding with Women's Month, the event became an avenue for the senator to recognize the invaluable contributions of women athletes and reaffirm his commitment to the sports sector.

"As chair of the Committee on Sports, I assure you of my continued commitment to support and enhance the sports sector in the Philippines to the best of my capacity. My office welcomes athletes and in my own small capacity as your chairman po sa Committees on Sports and Health, I will help those the best I can."

"Sports play an important role in our society. More than just a past time, sports a great tool for nation-building. It teaches us the values of hardwork, fair play, integrity and discipline," he said.

"Likewise, sports is a tool to combat the spread of illegal drugs. So it would be better for us to stay away from drugs and get into sports so we could all be healthy and fit."

One of the senator's notable contributions to sports development is Republic Act 11470, which he authored and co-sponsored. The Act led to the establishment of the National Academy of Sports. Located in New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac, the NAS is a government-run institution offering a secondary education program integrated with a specialized sports curriculum.

Senator Go also discussed Senate Bill No. 2514, or the proposed Philippine National Games Act, which he authored and principally sponsored. The bill, backed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Majority Floor Leader Senator Joel Villanueva, aims to establish a comprehensive national sports program combining grassroots sports development with national sports advancement efforts if enacted into law.

"As your sports chairman in the Senate, I am calling on everyone, especially the youth, to stay away from drugs because it leads to widespread corruption and criminality. That's a scary situation."