Philippine Olympic Committee

Philippine Olympic Committee

Philippine Olympic Committee logo
Country/Region	Philippines
Code	PHI
Created	1975
Recognized	1929 (as the PAAF)
Continental Association	OCA
Headquarters	PhilSports Complex, Pasig, Metro Manila
President	Jose Cojuangco, Jr.
Website	www.olympic.ph

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) in the Philippines. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as having the sole authority for representation of the Philippines in the Olympic Games, the Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games and other multi-event competitions.

The POC is financially independent and does not receive any subsidy from government, though its member NSAs receive some financial assistance from the Philippine Sports Commission. Instead, the POC supports its own activities with funds generated from sponsorships, licensing fees on the use of the Olympic marks, IOC subsidy and proceeds from special projects and donations.

Organized sports was first introduced in the Philippines during the American administration of the islands with the establishment of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) in January 1911. The PAAF organized the inaugural Far Eastern Championship Games in 1913 which was participated by China, Japan, and the host country, Philippines.

The first Filipino Olympian was David Nepomuceno who participated in Athletics in the 100m and 200m sprints events at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. However it was only in 1929 when the International Olympic Committee recognized the PAAF as the Philippines' National Olympic Committee. The recognition was a year after swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso won the Philippines' first Olympic medal—a bronze in the 200 meters breaststroke event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.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.