PSC to start buildup for 2005

KUALA LUMPUR (Via Globe Telecoms) – The Philippine Sports Commission is set to form a special task force to prepare the blueprint for the country’s staging of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

PSC chairman Carlos "Butch" Tuason announced this yesterday after talks with First Gentleman Juan Miguel Arroyo, Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon and Congressman Monico Puentevella of Bacolod City, who are in the SEA Games to gather first hand information on how a multi-event should be organized.

The Philippines gets its turn to host the SEA Games in 2005 after Vietnam hosts the next Games in 2003.

Tuason said Arroyo and Gordon had been impressed at the magnitude of preparations for the SEA Games and what it would take to host one in terms of athletes’ training and preparation, construction of modern sports facilities, accommodations, media coverage, and security and the corresponding benefits a country could earn in terms of tourism packages, airtime rights, ticket revenues and goodwill.

Gordon himself expressed amazement over the preparations made by concerned sectors of the Malaysian government and the involvement of private firms to make the Games "the best-ever held" in this part of the world.

"Secretary Gordon himself feels the task force must be created immediately and is saying our hosting should be as impressive as that of the Malaysians," said Tuason.

Tuason added that a consultative meeting will be held among representatives of the departments of tourism, education and interior and local government, the AFP-PNP, and all other government agencies whose input will be needed to complete the blueprint for the 2005 Games.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit also said the current SEA Games should be a rallying point for the 2005 Games, citing the example of Vietnam which has sent a complement of 407 athletes here as part of its buildup for the staging of the Games in 2003.

"The PSC and the POC are looking at the same goal, in 2005, and the SEAG in Malaysia is part of that buildup," said Dayrit.