THE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) wants the Philippine National Anti-Doping Organization (PHI-NADO) to become a fully independent body just like anti-doping agencies in other countries.
Cleared from the compliance watchlist of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Philippines now focuses on educating stakeholders, including the various national sports associations (NSAs), and the thousands of athletes and coaches under its watch.
“Given the progression of the anti-doping world a lot of countries have independent anti-doping agencies. This is the proper time we have one in PHI-NADO,” said PSC executive director Paulo Tatad in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Last September 23, the PSC was ordered to answer the non-compliance to the WADA code and a follow-up notice was issued on January 23. On March 19, the PSC said the country had been removed from the WADA compliance watchlist.
“We are making sure we do the necessary steps. Our friends in Malaysia, Indonesia Thailand gave a lot of insights. And given all of that, we are in the right direction,” said Tatad during the forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Milo, PLDT/Smart, and ArenaPlus, the 24/7 sports app in the country.
PHI-NADO chief Dr. Alex Pineda said settling the non-compliance issue was just the first step.
“We are being monitored by WADA not on testing alone but on anti-doping education as well, capacity building, management of results and data privacy,” Pineda said. “We need to work with PSC, the POC [Philippine Olympic Committee], and the NSAs. We need collaboration.”
“The threat that came with WADA non- compliance meant that starting last February 22 we would not have been allowed to host international sporting events like FIBA qualifiers [among others] and that if a Filipino wins in international competitions, the Philippine flag cannot fly. Of course, [it affects] our national pride,” Pineda said.
PSC chairman Richard Bachmann, meanwhile, said Malacañang supports the bid to create an independent PHI-NADO that can cater to the high demands of the national athletes.