GABRIELA Partylist Representative Arlene Brosas slams Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque over his claims that the Duterte Government heavily invested in Filipino athletes.
“We are deeply disgusted by the Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque’s claim that the historic feat of Filipino olympians in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics is brought about by the Duterte government’s alleged investment in our athletes,” Brosas said in her statement.
“We are not suprised by the Palace’s shameless credit-grabbing, but we will never let this statement pass especially when most of our athletes had to beg for help from the private sector just to fund their training. Hidilyn Diaz, who recently won a gold medal for weightlifting, was even tagged in the Palace ‘matrix’ just because she asked for support from the government,” she said.
“The funding for Philippine Sports Commission for 2021 amounted to just P1.3 billion — a far cry from the P19.1 billion for the NTF-ELCAC. Tama naman pala ang sinabi ni Spokesperson Harry Roque na nagtanim at nag-invest sila: nagtanim na ebidensya para maipakulong ang mga progresibong indibidwal at nag-invest ng bilyong pondo sa NTF-ELCAC para i-redtag ang mga katulad ni Hidilyn na nanawagan lamang ng suporta,”
“Ang tagumpay ng mga atletang pinoy ay tagumpay nila, hindi ng kung sino mang pulitiko na gustong gamitin ang kanilang naabot para magpapogi at magpaganda sa darating na eleksyon,” she added.
“The audacity of this government to take credit but can’t own up to their mistakes. Our advice to the Duterte administration: tama na ang pagbubuhat ng bangko dahil hindi naman kayo kasali sa weightlifting competition. The only statement that we need to hear is a sincere apology to the athletes from the government for not being able to provide them with financial support when they needed it the most,” the lady solon concluded.