With the new administration already in place, it is quite understandable why it seems that sports is not a priority.

It’s not that it is not a priority, but we understand that there are more pressing matters for the Aquino administration to resolve, not only poverty but the factors that are aiding it. Personally, I believe that education, not merely the diploma, is the way out of poverty.

But one thing I should point out to the administration is the renewed focus on physical education. I’ve read somewhere that PE classes are now only reduced to 30 minutes in a week.

This is troubling not only because this is far lower than what is the norm during our time.

Without video games, kids during our time have time to exercise, knowingly or unknowingly, by playing any local sport with friends or simply walking around the neighborhood. So whether or not we had less or more PE time is not really a problem.

With the lack of parks and the security in question nowadays, kids would rather stay at home. We would have to notice some kids who are now obese, mainly due to poor eating habits but also the lack of exercise.

I am not sure if the Department of Education now under secretary Bro. Armin Luistro will be in a better position to reinvigorate physical education when the focus should be the three Rs (Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic) or the skills needed to create a responsible citizenry.

But we would have to take into consideration that physical education is also needed to make sure that the citizenry functions to the best of abilities and potential without the hindrance of poor health or incapacity coming in. Simply investing in physical education might eradicate bad habits that affect health and possibly drive down health costs for the government in the near future.

If not the DepEd, should the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) take the lead? As we all know, the PSC is more into athletes who are trained to compete in international competitions. And I am not sure, that if the PSC will have money to fund other activities like PE other than what the law mandated it to do so.

Probably, the local government units would be in the better position to handle and impose physical education.

But LGUs should not only focus on competitive sports like basketball but also expand the range to other sports, for those who are not physically able or comfortable to play a certain sport. It does not really matter if you play basketball or not, but as long as you indulge in physical activities that improve your physical and mental wellbeing.