The Philippine Institute of Sports Complex (also known as the PhilSports Complex) is a national sports complex of 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 ...

. It is located in Meralco Avenue in

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

. It is where the offices of the

Philippine Sports Commission The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC, ) is an agency of the Philippine government which tackles matters concerning sports in the country. The sports agency is independent from the Philippine Olympic Committee which enjoys autonomy from the gov ...

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 ...

and some national sports associations are located. PhilSports Complex facilities are purposely built to cater the Filipino athletes’ needs from training facilities to living quarters. By virtue of

Republic Act This article contains a partial list of Philippine laws. Sources of Philippine laws ;Notes : *Customs may be considered as supplementary source of law, however, customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be ...

6847, which created the Philippines Sports Commission, was to develop and maintain a fully equipped sports facility. Due to its proximity to business districts of

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

and

Ortigas Ortigas Center is a central business district located within the joint boundaries of Pasig, Mandaluyong and Quezon City, within the Metro Manila region in the Philippines. With an area of more than , it is Metro Manila's second most important bu ...

, the arena is also used in concerts and conventions.

History

20th century

1970s

The complex was actually the sports field of a defunct school named Saint Martin's Integrated School (

Elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...

and

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

). The school was transferred by First Lady

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the dictato ...

during the 1970s and the school was reorganized as the University of Life, a vocational school.

1980–1999

In 1985, the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

became main tenants of the

PhilSports Arena The Philippine Institute of Sports Multi-Purpose Arena or PhilSports Arena is an indoor sporting arena located inside the PhilSports Complex in Pasig, Philippines. It was formerly known as the University of Life Theater and Recreational Arena ...

after nine years at the

Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed as "the Big ...

. The venue attracted

standing-room only An event is described as standing-room only when it is so well-attended that all of the chairs in the venue are occupied, leaving only flat spaces of pavement or flooring for other attendees to stand, at least those spaces not restricted by occup ...

crowds during their stay. The PBA stayed for seven years until they moved to the newly built

Cuneta Astrodome The Cuneta Astrodome is an indoor arena that is located in Pasay, Philippines. Since the 1993 PBA season, it was better known as the home of the Philippine Basketball Association. when it left the PhilSports Arena (that was then known as ULTRA), ...

in 1993, citing the venue's lack of maintenance. After the Marcos family was removed from the country during the

1986 People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of ...

, the University of Life was closed. However, the sports complex was transferred to the Philippine Sports Commission in preparation for the

1991 Southeast Asian Games The 1991 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 16th Southeast Asian Games, was a multi-sport event held in Manila, the Philippines from 24 November to 3 December 1991, with 28 sports featured in the games. This was the second time that ...

. Several names were applied at the complex. These were ''The ULTRA'', PSC-National Academy of Sports (''PSC-NAS'') and ''PSC Sports Complex''. Due to confusion to the public especially in concerts, the commission decided to adopt a permanent name, ''PhilSports''.

21st century

2000s

The sports complex reached its maximum audience space when the Asian pop group F4 and Taiwanese local star

Barbie Hsu Barbie Hsu (; born 6 October 1976) is a Taiwanese actress, singer, and television host. She is best known for her leading role in the television series '' Meteor Garden'' (2001). Life and career Hsu was born in Taipei, Taiwan on 6 October 197 ...

staged a concert in the facility in September 2003. It was one of the venues of the

2005 Southeast Asian Games The 2005 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines. This was the third time the Philippines hosted the games and its first time since 1991. ...

which was held from November 27, 2005, to December 5, 2005. It hosted the games' badminton event.

=PhilSports stampede

= On February 4, 2006, the PhilSports Complex became the site of a deadly stampede that killed 74 people and injured hundreds.

Wowowee ''Wowowee'' () is a Philippine noontime variety show that was broadcast by ABS-CBN from 2005 to 2010. The show premiered on February 5, 2005, and aired live on weekdays and Saturdays. The show was also broadcast worldwide through ABS-CBN's The ...

, the now-defunct early afternoon game show of television network

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company unde ...

, was scheduled to hold its first anniversary show at the complex. Attracted by the large prizes given out during the show, crowds of people, mostly from the lower classes of society, waited for days just outside the stadium. As the opening of the gates neared a few hours before the show, the crowd surged forward crushing those at the front of the queue underfoot. The cause of the stampede is still being determined pending investigation.

2010s

There was a plan by the

to put up of a beach volleyball court inside the track and field oval of the

PhilSports Football and Athletics Stadium The Philippine Institute of Sports Football and Athletics Stadium, formerly known as the ULTRA Stadium (University of Life Training and Recreational Arena), is a stadium located inside the PhilSports Complex in Oranbo, Pasig, Metro Manila, Phili ...

, a proposal opposed by the

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) is the National Sports Association (NSA) for athletics sports such as track and field, road running, cross country running, and racewalking in the Philippines, including the core ath ...

(PATAFA). PATAFA President, and

Philippine Super Liga The Philippine Super Liga (PSL; alternatively spelled as Philippine Superliga) was a non-professional corporate club women's volleyball league in the Philippines. It was first organized by SportsCore Event Management and Consultancy, Inc. an ...

Chairman

Philip Ella Juico Philip Ella Juico is a Filipino sports official. He is the chairman emeritus of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA), the NSA for athletics in the Philippines. He was president of PATAFA from 2015 to 2022. Juico served ...

said that the construction of the sand court may hamper the athletics national team's preparations. The complex underwent a major renovation, prior to its hosting of some events of the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

2020s

In 2020, the Philippine Sports Commission plans to relaunch its Philippine Sports Library, which will be hosted inside the complex's Building A. The planned library will have at least 3,000 books.

Facilities

Sports venues

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philsports Complex Sports venues in Metro Manila Buildings and structures in Pasig 1985 establishments in the Philippines Sports venues completed in 1985 Sports complexes in the Philippines