Citing the perennial challenges that hinder the growth of Philippine sports, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday, July 10, 2025, filed a measure seeking to create a dedicated government agency that will focus on sports development and athlete support in the country.
The Department of Sports Act of 2025 (Senate Bill No. 423) aims to establish a Cabinet-level department that will address long-standing issues in Philippine sports. These include the absence of a unified national sports program, outdated training methods, and the lack of modern, high-quality facilities, equipment, and venues.
The measure also aims to promote equal access to sports and physical activities while using sports as a tool to instill discipline, teamwork, patriotism, and national pride.
“This measure will address the perennial challenges that hinder the growth of Philippine sports. With a dedicated department, we can find comprehensive solutions to the problems besetting Philippine sports,” Cayetano said in the bill’s explanatory note.
The bill also seeks to shield the country’s sports programs from political interference, emphasizing that merit should be the sole basis in selecting programs and recipients of government support.
“Partisan politics should have no place in sports development,” the bill states.
If passed, the Department of Sports will be the lead agency responsible for planning, implementing, and coordinating national sports development programs.
It will be tasked to create a National Sports Development Agenda, which will serve as the blueprint of the country’s long-term plan to grow the sports sector.
The agenda will focus on increasing grassroots participation, developing elite athletes, improving coaching standards, and modernizing sports infrastructure.
It will also integrate modern sports science and medicine in training programs, and promote collaboration with the private sector and other stakeholders for sustainable development.
The bill also mandates the transfer of all national government-owned sports facilities to the new department. This will guide the formulation of a National Sports Infrastructure Master Plan, which will serve as a roadmap for future investments to modernize and maximize the use of these facilities.
A long-time advocate of sports, Cayetano hopes the measure will transform the country’s sports system.
“Everything about life you can see in sports. We need a viable and effective program so that, from the earliest age, someone who learns to love a sport and excels in it can be given the appropriate training, and provided the opportunities to become a future world-class athlete,” Cayetano said.
