MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is preparing a bilateral sports pact with world powerhouse China in an effort to boost the Filipino athletes’ training for major competitions, especially in next year’s Olympics.
PSC chairman Richie Garcia met recently with Chinese counterparts in Fujian Province, China and they agreed to further strengthen the two nations’ sports ties through a memorandum of understanding that will be national in scope.
“We deferred the signing because the Chinese themselves wanted it to be a nationwide MOU rather than a provincial transaction. I think it’s also for the better that this will be signed by heads of states,” Garcia said in Filipino.
He added the Phl-China MOU will be signed when President Aquino makes his state visit to Beijing.
Once formalized, the Philippines can already share expertise with the Chinese and send athletes to various training hubs in China. One particular site will be Fujian, which according to Garcia is considered the “specialized areas for training” for weightlifting, badminton, volleyball and gymnastics.
“I’ve seen the training centers and talked to the heads of each training facility, who also showed me their hospitals, dorms and equipment which are all world class. And the good thing is that they’re receptive to our proposal to send our hopefuls for the London Olympics there for training,” Garcia reported.
He said weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz should take this opportunity.
“We’re thinking of sending her there to train all the way to the Olympics . I even told them (Chinese officials) that who knows, maybe this athlete can win our first Olympic gold and they will be instrumental in it if ever,” the PSC chief said.
While the MOU is yet to be signed, Garcia said the weighlifting center in Fujian is willing to accommodate Diaz provided Phl will secure permission from the Chinese weightliftng federation.
The pending MOU with China will follow the sports agreement that the PSC and Brunei signed early this month. Garcia had said the agency would also work on renewed pacts with both ASEAN neighbors and powerhouses like Russia, Cuba and Australia.