Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, together with fellow senator Ronald dela Rosa, on Tuesday, December 13, filed Senate Resolution No. 380 congratulating and commending 22-year old Davaoeña Sydney Sy Tancontian who ruled the women’s 80kg sports sambo category and captured a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Sambo Championships at the Bouddha Sports Center in Jounieh, Lebanon.
“Tancontian’s achievements gave us national pride and honor. Her grit and determination to succeed is an epitome of a true Filipino spirit and it will serve as a guiding motivation to our future Filipino athletes,” the senators stated in the resolution.
Tancontian won the championship after defeating her close opponent Arailym Abenova of Kazakhstan in the finals by a score of 1-0. Her victory was a satisfying comeback after losing to the same opponent in the round 16 of the World Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
After winning the Asian Junior gold medal in the same competition in Mongolia in 2019, the Filipino sambist Tancontian’s most recent achievement was her second continental crown.
She competes in sambo, kurash, and judo regularly and has won the bronze medal at the World Sambo Championship five times.
A sports enthusiast, Go has been consistently promoting the development of the country’s grassroots sports program. The senator authored and co-sponsored the measure that became Republic Act No. 11470. The law, which former president Rodrigo Duterte signed in June 2020, provides for the establishment of the National Academy of Sports at the New Clark City Sports Complex in Capas, Tarlac.
The NAS also offers a secondary education program with an integrated special curriculum on sports which was developed in close coordination with the Department of Education and Philippine Sports Commission.
The academy is equipped with world-class sports facilities, housing and other amenities on par with international standards. Sufficient number of classrooms and other facilities have also been built at the complex to provide a conducive learning environment for all the students.
According to Go, aside from honing the skills of budding Filipino athletes, sports will help them stay away from illegal drugs and criminality.
To ensure the international competitiveness of the student-athletes, the academy likewise provides services of licensed and internationally-certified foreign coaches, trainers and consultants, duly certified by the PSC.
As one of his priority measures in the 19th Congress, Go also filed Senate Bill No. 423, or the proposed Philippine National Games Act of 2022, to provide a structure for a more comprehensive national sports program, linking grassroots sports promotion to national sports development.