President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. chose a bigger, brighter stage to wish the Filipino athletes well as they embark on tough battles in the Paris Olympics.

With the entire nation watching during his third State of the Nation Address on Monday afternoon, the Chief Executive made a rare mention of Philippine sports as he wished the Filipino athletes the best of luck in the Summer Games that will open this Friday at the River Seine in the French capital.

Sports have a special place in Marcos’ heart.

In fact, he was instrumental in boosting the morale of the athletes, prompting them to come up with impressive finishes in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia and the 19th Asian Games in China last year.

Also, the Filipinos were able to host the FIBA World Cup, a prestigious global event that put the country in the world sporting map. The government, through the Philippine Sports Commission, reportedly spent north of P1 billion to make sure that everything will be provided, including the mobilization of various agencies and institutions who helped in making the event a massive success.

This year, with the country competing in the Olympics, the President again made sure to make his presence felt.

During the send-off ceremony last month, Marcos ordered additional funding for the PSC to finance the preparation and participation of the athletes to the Olympics. With that, the government funding arm for sports earmarked P52 million, an increase from the P46-million budget allotted during the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

Marcos also doled out P500,000 cash incentives to all athletes and coaches competing in the Summer Games.

Set to see action in the Olympics are Ernest John Obiena, John Cabang, and Lauren Hoffman of athletics; Eumir Marcial, Carlo Paalam, Hergie Bacyadan, Nesthy Petecio, and Aira Villegas of boxing; Sam Catantan of fencing; Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina of golf; Carlos Yulo, Levi Ruivivar, Aleah Finnegan and Emma Malabuyo of gymnastics;  Kiyomi Watanabe of judo; Joanie Delgaco of rowing; Kayla Sanchez and Jarod Hatch of swimming; and John Febuar Ceniza, Elreen Ando, and Vanessa Sarno of weightlifting.

Aside from the Olympians, Marcos also made special mention of the six athletes who will compete in the Paralympics in Agustina Bantiloc of archery, Jerrold Mangliwan of wheelchair racing, Ernie Gawilan and Angel Otom of swimming, and Allain Ganapin of taekwondo.

‘Let us wish them the best of luck.’

“As we speak, 28 of our finest athletes are competing in Paris now for the glory of the Philippines,” Marcos during his speech delivered before the senators, congressmen, cabinet secretaries, and other ranking government officials at the packed Session Hall of the Batasang Pambansa Complex.

“Let us wish them the best of luck.”

Marcos also mentioned the importance of grassroots sports programs, especially the Palarong Pambansa that saw its revival under his administration last year. The Palaro was held in Marikina City last year and Cebu City this year.

As a sign of the government’s seriousness in developing the program, it added two more teams — the National Academy of Sports (NAS) and the Philippine Schools Overseas (PSO) — to compete with athletes from 17 regions.

NAS athletes bagged one gold, five silver and two bronze medals while the PSO had one bronze medal in the tournament dominated by the National Capital Region, which pocketed 98 gold, 66 silver, and 74 bronze medals.

Aside from the Palaro, the PSC also has its own grassroots program in the Batang Pinoy, Philippine National Games and Laro’t Saya sa Parke.

“Grassroots and sports of all programs are back, nailunsad na namin ang Palarong Pambansa after three years na pagkakatigil nito dahil sa pandemya,” he said, thanking the local government units of Marikina and Cebu as well as the Department of Education for successfully re-launching the program that features the best student-athletes in elementary and high school.

“Binabati natin ang Cebu at Marikina at ang Kagawaran ng Education para sa matagumpay na pagkakatanghal ng mga palarong ito.”

Marcos added: “We will continue to support these health-enhancing sports programs. Through these, we will also set forth our youth on the same well-established path taken by some of our national champions and renowned athletes to sporting greatness.”

Marcos, too, noted the sports’ importance in tourism.

“The focus now is on experiential tourism—foods, heritage, culture, the arts, education, Halal, Islamic traditions, education, dive, cruise, farm and eco-tourism and even sports have now become potent subjects and products of the nation’s tourism,” he said.