The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) sealed the deal with  Otsuka-Solar Philippines Inc.,  the pharmaceuticals company behind Pocari Sweat, as the official sports drink of the agency at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

With the goal of promoting the health of Filipino athletes, the PSC has partnered with the Japanese pharmaceutical company to provide the beverage for our sportsmen.            

PSC Commissioner Celia Kiram, representing PSC Chairman William Ramirez, delivered her welcoming remarks giving praise to the initiative taken by Pocari Sweat in service of Filipino athletes, more importantly, the upcoming 30^th edition of the Southeast Asian Games.

“ I am really so flattered to welcome you this morning for the signing ceremony of our collaboration with Pocari Sweat. We in the Philippine Sports Commission, on behalf of the Chairman, would like to thank you so much for your trust given to us, for sponsoring our athletes, our coaches, especially for this coming Southeast Asian  Games. We do hope that this collaboration will be prolonged for our athletes. And with that, we hope we can also collaborate with you, in terms of whatever aspect we can give you. So for the athletes, this will be our official drink,” she said.

Mr. Kohei Oyamada, President and Managing Director of Otsuka-Solar Philippines Inc., shared his delight about the partnership and the company’s motivation propelling the tie-in with PSC.

“We want the opportunity to collaborate  with the PSC for the better health of the Filipino people, not only the athletes, but also people who love sports,” he remarked.  

Pocari Sweat, an ion drink launched in Japan in 1980, made its way in the Philippines in 2007. It is an electrolyte beverage formulated to prevent dehydration especially for physically-active individuals. PSC Commissioner Kiram has noted the beverage’s safety for the athletes making it the ideal sports drink of the national athletes.  

“For most health drinks any medicine had to pass through PHINADO. This was already approved and recommended by them to be used by the athletes without any components of prohibited drugs. We in the PSC really would like to partner with other private organizations that can support our athletes because government cannot do it alone,” she said.

PHINADO or Philippine National Anti-Doping Organization, is the sole entity responsible for the implementation of anti-doping policies for the Southeast Asian Games. PHINADO Head Dr. Alejandro Pineda also joined the contract signing.

“On behalf of the Philippine National Anti-Doping Organization (PHINADO) working with the Philipppine Sports Commission, I would like to thank Otsuka Solar Philippines Inc.  for the generosity to support our athletes,” he noted.

Also present in the ceremony are PSC Commissioner Charles Maxey, PSC Executive Director Merlita Ibay  Executive Assistant of the Office of the Chairman Marc Edward Velasco, PSC Acting Chief, Accounting Division Erik Jean Mayores, and President of Federated Distributors Inc. Ronald Tieng. (PR)