The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) was the governing body of sports in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and the predecessor of the

Philippine Olympic Committee The Philippine Olympic Committee Inc. (POC) is the National Olympic Committee of the Philippines. The POC is a private, non-governmental organization composed of and serve as the mother organization of all National Sports Associations (NSAs) i ...

History

The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation was organized in a permanent basis in 1911 as a result of the gaining of foothold of athletics in the

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

which was caused by American influence since 1899. The early proponents of the PAAF meant not only to promote athletics in the whole archipelago but in the whole

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. The PAAF formed a committee in 1912, composed of Frank L. Crone, Elwood Stanley Brown and William Tutherly, for this purpose. The PAAF was instrumental to the organization of the Far Eastern Athletic Association (FEAA) and launched the inaugural edition of the

Far Eastern Championship Games The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as the Far Eastern Championships, Far Eastern Games or Far East Games) was an Asian multi-sport event considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games. History In 1913, Elwood Brown, president of ...

in 1913. Succeeding editions of the Games would be hosted by the Philippines, China and Japan until 1934. The first Filipino Olympian was David Nepomuceno who participated in

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

in the 100m and 200m sprints events at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. However it was only in 1929 when the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

recognized the PAAF as the Philippines' National Olympic Committee. The recognition was a year after swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso won the Philippines' first

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid o ...

—a bronze in the 200 meters breaststroke event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. With the approval of the Republic Act No. 3135 which revised the Charter of the PAAF on June 17, 1961, the PAAF became a public corporation. In 1975 the PAAF was renamed to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) after the establishment of the Department of Youth and Sports Development which effectively abolished the former.

Leadership

The founding President of the PAAF was

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

William Cameron Forbes William Cameron Forbes (May 21, 1870 – December 24, 1959) was an American investment banker and diplomat. He served as governor-general of the Philippines from 1909 to 1913 and ambassador of the United States to Japan from 1930 to 1932. He was ...

. The first elected Filipino President of the sports body was then Senator

Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his de ...

who succeeded Forbes and served from 1916 to 1935. The last president of the PAAF was Ambrosio Padilla who served as PAAF President until 1975 when PAAF was renamed as the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). Padilla served as the first president of the POC from 1975 until 1976.

References

{{reflist Former National Olympic Committees 1911 establishments in the Philippines 1975 disestablishments in the Philippines Sports organizations established in 1911 Organizations disestablished in 1975 A