Time running out on Palaro

With the bureaucratic wheel grinding so slowly, the Palarong Pambansa, barely 17 days away, may not be held as scheduled June 3-10 in Naga City.

Eight thousand athletes and hundreds of volunteers all over the country have been waiting anxiously for a Palace decision on the matter but, as it appears, the case has not really been elevated yet to the Office of the President.

Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable said yesterday the row over whether or not to push through the annual Palarong Pambansa has not reached the level of President Arroyo for her to intervene in this issue.

In a press briefing at Malacañang yesterday, Afable told Palace reporters that the controversy involving the Palaro is still at the level of the Department of Education Secretary Raul Roco and Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain.

"That (Palaro) has not come up at the level of Malacañang," Afable said. "I cannot comment on this matter which has not been elevated to the attention of the President."

Roco has reportedly sought audience yesterday with Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo at Malacañang to discuss the Palaro issue.

However, a check made by The STAR at the office of Romulo showed no such meeting took place between Romulo and Roco.

How much longer the regional directors and teacher volunteers and the expected cast of 8,000 athletes could wait is a big question as the various delegations now have barely two weeks to bring their athletes to regional headquarters for the meet, fit the uniforms, and arrange transportation.

Teachers are now also in midst of preparations for the incoming schoolyear which begins June 3 in some schools, coinciding with the opening of the Palaro.

Still, Bacolod Representative Monico Puentevella has remained optimistic that Roco would reconsider his earlier decision despite the problems likely to be encountered.

"The ball is now in the hands of Secretary Roco, who I think will discuss this to the President and Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo," said Puentevella, chairman of the House Committee on Youth and Sports, in yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Holiday Inn. "Secretary Roco has a good heart, good enough to reconsider his decision postponing the Palaro," he added.

A former PSC commissioner, Puentevella said the outright cancellation of the Palarong Pambansa would be disastrous since it would not only waste millions of pesos of government funds but also create a vacuum in the country’s grassroots development sports program.

"Not only that, a lot of student athletes who are relying on the Palaro to get scholarships in order for them to get to college may just not achieve their intended goal because of this decision by Secretary Roco," said Puentevella.