MANILA - Senator Francis Pangilinan urged the government yesterday to review the tenets of the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee following another failed attempt to win a single medal in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Pangilinan said in a statement he issued: ”We should review the efforts of the PSC and POC and make sure that they are efficient and effective.

"There could be some things that we fail to implement, and things we are taking for granted. Let us do this for the sake of our athletes."

Since boxer Mansueto ‘Onyok’ Velasco won the country’s only second silver medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the Philippines has not won any medal in the world’s most prestigious sports event.

In London, all the 11 Filipino athletes went home empty-handed with boxer Mark Anthony Barriga having the highest finish when he beat Italian boxer Manuel Kappai.

Barriga lost by only one point, 16-17, to Kazakhs Birzhan Zhakipov in the second round.

Despite failure to bring home medals, Pangilinan commended the Filipino athletes for showing what he called “valiance and competitive heart.”

”Representing the country is a huge undertaking. We must prepare our athletes for the pressure of competing on a global scale and do all that we can to provide them the necessary tools and skills to ensure victory,” Pangilinan said.

The Philippines has yet to win a gold medal since it joined the Olympic Games in 1928. Its other silver medal was won by boxer Anthony Villanueva in the 1964 Tokyo Games.*PNA

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