Loren bats for sports equivalent of Nat'l Artist Award

Senator Loren Legarda proposed today the establishment of the sports equivalent of the National Artist Award to honor past athletic heroes and inspire new athletes to reach new heights in global sporting arenas like the Olympics.

Legarda said that while several sports personalities and organizations in the Philippines like the Elordes for boxing and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) have come up with their respective halls of fame, the creation of a National Sports Hero Award should give Filipino sporting greats a more fitting honor which is truly national in scope.

Meanwhile, the senator lauded the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) and the Sports Communicators Organization of the Philippines (SCOOP) for giving accolades to deserving Filipino athletes each year.

"When the National Artist Award was established in 1972, it ushered in a new era in the development of Philippine art and cultural heritage. By creating a Sports Hero Award, we hope to do for sports what the National Artist Award did for Philippine arts," Legarda said.

World-renowned painter Fernando Amorsolo was the first recipient of the National Artist Award, which was established under Proclamation No. 1001.

The senator said the new sports award can be established through the filing of a bill in Congress.

"The creation of this award would entail public hearings and inputs from all concerned sectors - sports personalities and the sports media, among others. Various issues will have to be threshed out, including whether the award would be limited to amateurs or would be open to professionals," she said.

On a personal level, Legarda said she is in favor of also recognizing professional athletes since many of the beneficiaries of the National Artist Award had also earned their living through their craft.