PSC chairman Eric Buhain said they will heed the request of the Department of Education’s regional offices for additional funds for the operations of the delegations during the seven-day games.
"Since we are not sending delegations to the Arafura Games and the Summer Youth Training Camp has also been cancelled, the PSC has enough funds to give in to the regional directors’ request," said Buhain.
The games will push through June 3, and not June 8 or 10 as recommended by the DepEd’s management committee (Mancom), because President Arroyo would not be available to open the Palaro on any other dates next month.
The June 3 opening was made official by a memorandum from Executive Secretary Roberto Romulo, who added that the President’s schedule includes other official functions in the Bicol region.
"The President gave the go-ahead to the holding of the Palarong Pambansa from June 3 to 9 based on your (Buhain) assurance of the preparedness and readiness of the PSC and all the participants," Romulo said in the memo.
" Everything is in place so there’s no need to reschedule the Palaro. I have talked with Undersecretary Ramon Bacani of Malacañang’s decision and he gave orders to all department personnel to start preparations," Buhain said.
He earlier pledged P200,000 in additional funds to the P30 million the 16 regional directors will get for their operations in the games. The operational funds will be for transportation, food and uniforms of the 8,000 or so athletes and officials expected in Naga next month.
The PSC cancelled the Arafura participation and the summer youth games because of the several postponements done on the Palaro. The RP delegation to the Arafura Games in Perth, Australia, is composed mostly of winners of the Palaro.
Participants in the summer youth camp is also composed of winners and top finishers of the Palaro, according to Buhain. —With reports from Joey Villar