Project Gintong Alay or Gintong Alay () was a national

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

program of the

Philippine government The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional repub ...

launched under the administration of President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

History

Establishment

In Letter of Instructions No. 955 dated October 31, 1979, primarily issued to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the

Philippine Olympic Committee The Philippine Olympic Committee Inc. (POC) is the National Olympic Committee of the Philippines. The POC is a private, non-governmental organization composed of and serve as the mother organization of all National Sports Associations (NSAs) in ...

, President

instructed the creation of a national sports program to develop

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athletes. On November 8, 1979, Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1922 which authorized Gintong Alay to conduct an educational and fund campaign to aid in the generation of funds for the project and on May 2, 1980, to expand the scope of the project to include 17 other sports. On August 16, 1980, all donations, bequests and gifts to the sports program were exempted from tax.

1986 disbandment

Following the ouster of President Marcos due to the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

in February 1986, the Gintong Alay program was effectively ended.

Revival and later succession by the PSC

In 1987, the program was revived albeit in a smaller scale to prepare and train the Philippine delegate which participated at the 1987 Southeast Asian Games. Gintong Alay would be later replaced with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) which was established in 1990.

Leadership

The Gintong Alay Project was led by the Executive Director, the first executive director was

Michael Marcos Keon Michael Edward Marcos Keon (born September 22, 1954) is a Filipino politician. Keon is the son of Australian journalist Michael James Keon and Elizabeth E. Marcos-Keon, governor of Ilocos Norte from 1971 to 1983 and the nephew of former Phili ...

from the project's establishment until the first halt of the project following the

. Keon was also simultaneously the president of the

Joey Romasanta Jose A. "Joey" Romasanta (born August 26, 1944) was the 11th President of the Philippine Olympic Committee, president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), the country's highest Olympic body. He is also the president of Larong Volleyball sa P ...

led Gintong Alay, after its revival in 1987. Arturo "Bong" Iligan later served as executive director.

Legacy

Gintong Alay set up a strong foundation in Philippine sports. According to former Executive Director,

, the succeeding officials after him were able to continue the momentum made by the Gintong Alay project citing the overall performance of the Philippines at the 1991 Southeast Asian Games where the country won 91 gold medal-only one medal short from becoming the overall champions. However Keon, said from 1991, Philippine sports went downhill despite continued breaking of national records in measurable sports by Filipino athletes and said that other Southeast Asian and Asian countries are improving in sports more rapidly. He cited the '' palakasan'' system, ''bata-bata'' ( favouritism), and politicking as hindrance to development in Philippine sports. The initiative led to the Philippines in winning in international competitions especially in

in the 1980s. During the program's tenure, Keon discovered Lydia de Vega, eventually she became the "Asia's Sprint Queen" and Isidro del Prado, a two-time Olympian in track and field. Bong Coo became a world champion in Tenpin bowling when she won gold medals in the World Championships in 1979 and 1983. Under Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippines was always within the top three at the overall standing of the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

(2nd in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, 3rd in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

)However the country's performance went plummeted the next editions finishing 5th ahead only of Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Brunei, which were considered minnows during that time and only receiving two brief success in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

when the country managed to become overall champions of the regional tournament and finishing 2nd in 1991; both success were from editions hosted by the nation.

References

{{The Marcoses Sports in the Philippines Government programs Presidency of Ferdinand Marcos