Guiao to receive PSA President’s Award for landmark sports victory

Yeng Guiao is the first non-athlete to be honored with the President's Award in the 2025 Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards. (Photo: PSA/Facebook)

Veteran champion coach Yeng Guiao will receive a special award for spearheading a landmark Supreme Court victory expected to bolster funding for generations of Filipino athletes.

The Philippine Sportswriters Association, the country’s oldest media organization, announced on social media that Guiao will be honored with the President’s Award during the 2025 PSA Awards on Feb. 16 at the Diamond Hotel Manila.

“The choice of coach Yeng for the President’s Award is a fitting way to honor a sportsman who fought for our athletes — away from the spotlight and without regard for the fact that he had little to benefit from it,” PSA President Francis T.J. Ochoa said in a media release.

In December, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld its ruling compelling the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to remit a portion of their income to the Philippine Sports Commission starting in 1993 and 2006, respectively.

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Under Republic Act No. 6847, also known as the PSC Act, PAGCOR is required to remit 5% of its annual gross income to the PSC. PCSO, meanwhile, must transfer 30% of its charity fund from the proceeds of six lottery and sweepstakes draws.

“Coach Yeng took on a fight so formidable that no one dared join him in the battle. And he won. Every national athlete who dreams of bringing honor and glory to the country can now thank coach Yeng for the additional financial help they will receive as they pursue their podium dreams,” added Ochoa, who is also the sports editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Guiao, the longtime Rain or Shine mentor, filed the case in 2016 while serving as Pampanga lawmaker and chair of the Committee on Youth and Sports Development in the House of Representatives.

While no fellow House lawmaker joined him in what became a nearly decade-long legal battle, he received assistance from his counsel, Jun Guzman.

“Naglakas-loob lang tayo. ‘Coach, pati na naman Malacañang, lalabanan mo d’yan?’ Tama naman ginagawa natin, ito ’yung nasa batas,” Guiao said on One PH’s Power & Play with Noli Eala. “Walang gustong sumama sa’kin, ako lang nag-file.”

Chronic underfunding has long plagued Philippine sports — a reality laid bare in 2019 when the country’s first Olympic gold medalist, Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, publicly sought financial support for her bid in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics.

Diaz-Naranjo is among the athletes who have aired their need for financial support in recent years.