PSC-POC-LGU sports summit slated at RMSC

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Sports Commission is hosting the PSC-POC-LGU Sports Summit at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex on Feb. 23-24.

The Summit is expected to draw LGU officials, sports coordinators and representatives from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The two-day gathering is aimed primarily at firming up the PSC’s grassroots sports development and Sports for All programs with the help of the LGU, other government agencies, the POC and the private sector.

PSC chairman Ricardo Garcia, who will be welcoming the participants, will talk on the need to widen the base of athletes to be able to discover and get new and younger talents and to establish regional training centers to decentralize sports development.

“This is the challenge we all face in sports development, the need to expand our grassroots program and discover new athletes and this is where the partnership between the PSC, the POC and the LGUs will be needed. This Sports Summit will make clear the directions and steps we are taking towards this goal. Last year, we revived the Philippine National Games in Bacolod and the Batang Pinoy series and we are very happy with the positive response and support we got from the LGUs which hosted the events,” said chairman Garcia. All National Sporting Associations (NSA) will have individual exhibition booths to facilitate matching opportunities with the different LGUs.

POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr. also saw the need for private-public partnership and cooperation between all concerned, which he identifies as the key to a successful grassroots sports development program.

The POC last year held its own Sports Summit, but nothing came out of it.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, who is representing President Benigno Aquino III in the Sports Summit, dwells on the importance of sports as a component of the social development agenda of the national government. President Aquino batted for the prioritization of sports in the country in light of limited financial resources.

Garcia will also be presenting the PSC policy directions in partnership with LGUs focusing on its grassroots program, the Sports-for-All program, and its 2012 sports calendar where all the major activities and events under these three areas have been scheduled, including venues and host cities.

Also invited to make their response are Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo and DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro.

Robredo will make his own presentation of the DILG policies on sports while Luistro will focus on the 2012 Palarong Pambansa which will be held in Pangasinan.

Other LGU heads are scheduled to make their own presentation and similar pledges of support for Philippine sports.

are Bacoor Mayor Strike B. Revilla as president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez as president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, and Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso V. Umali Jr. as president of both the League of Provinces and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines.

Several case studies will also be represented covering other sectors of Philippine sports. 

Mike Barredo, President of PHILSPADA which has just staged its first ever National Games at the Marikina Sports Complex, will talk about -among other things- the campaign of the differently-abled athletes here and abroad.

PSC Commissioner Gillian Akiko Thomson-Guevarra, meanwhile, will present Women in Sports which she advocates.

Bro. Rolly Dizon will dwell on tertiary sports centered on the PSC-POC-University Games while Fr. Tito Caluag will cover secondary sports and the establishment of a National Sports High School.

Complementing these presentations will be a segment on some of identified provincial best practices in sports development with Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla presenting the model being used by the province of Leyte while Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will share his city’s own sports program.

PSC Commissioner and Executive Director Joaquin C. Loyzaga has been tasked with delivering the closing remarks to be followed by the send-off dinner at the Rizal Memorial Football Field for all the summit participants to be hosted by Vice President Jejomar C. Binay.

Philippine sports is indeed on the rebound.