President Rodrigo Duterte on June 9 signed into law Republic Act (RA) No. 11470, which establishes the National Academy of Sports (NAS) in New Clark City, Malacañang said.
“With [the president’s] signing of RA 11470, we are confident that we will be able to raise our student-athletes’ competitiveness in the field of sports and produce world-class athletes in the years to come,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.
NAS will be located at New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, where the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games was held last December.
Malacañang said it considered Duterte’s signing of RA 11470 a “good follow-through” to the country’s hosting of last year’s SEA Games, where the Philippines emerged as the overall winner.
The academy will provide full scholarships and access to sports facilities, housing and other amenities to qualified student-athletes.
The NAS will be attached to the Department of Education, which will coordinate with the Philippine Sports Commission in monitoring student-athletes’ development, as well as in the hiring of coaches, trainers and consultants. John Ezekiel J. Hirro