After an official from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) pleaded for help from lawmakers to improve the country's sports facilities, a House panel on Tuesday, March 14, approved the preparation of a substitute bill to institutionalize government-funded sports facilities. The House Committee on Youth and Sports Development, chaired by Isabela 5th District Rep. Faustino Michael Carlos Dy III, approved the preparation of a substitute bill to consolidate House Bills (HBs) 2257, 5066 & 6515 – Institutionalizing sustainability in government-funded sports facilities, and appropriating funds therefor. The bills were authored by Reps. Franz Pumaren, Gus Tambunting, and Ivan Howard Guintu, respectively. Dy also promised Cynthia Norton, president of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines and POC official, that he would personally check the new sport facility she mentioned during the hearing. “I’ll be in the inauguration of your new facility on Friday (March 17). I’ll be there. I’ll check it out and see how we can help,” the lawmaker said. This came after Norton, pleaded for the lawmakers to help in improving their training centers and facilities, especially as they are training young athletes to hopefully compete in the Olympics. “I have results. I know I gonna win the Olympics. I only need the help of the government. Please help us,” she said, stressing that Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo had just earned his second gold in the World Cup Series. She lamented that the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) gymnastics hall was closed during the pandemic, and was even used for the isolation of Covid-19 patients. Norton said they had “no training center” because of it and “the place was in a horrible condition,” citing it was “full of termites” and had a “leaking roof” destroying their equipment. The POC official shared that her group decided to put up and renovate a gym in Intramuros, Manila, spending P8 million for it to become “beautiful and world-class.” But while this “has motivated really our athletes because they saw that we care for them,” she also said that “we need help in the environment as it is very hot in there.” “We can’t afford air-conditioning. I don’t know what to do . . . (we) bought all these fans, (but) it is still very hot for the athletes,” she added. Norton shared that they will be opening another gym since they have a grassroots program for 100 young athletes who want to be gymnasts. Unfortunately, they cannot use the Intramuros gym since it is reserved for “elite athletes.” “We have outcomes. So, we would need the help of PSC to make sure that they continue paying our rent in Intramuros gym for our elite athletes. Because Carlos Yulo will be coming every three to four months to train in our country because he needs to be in the Philippines once in a while. It really refreshes him,” she said. Under HB 2257, PSC will be tasked to ensure and monitor compliance for all government-funded sports facilities “to keep up with global standards and boost the development of Filipino athletes.