PSC backs out of Clark sports deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Sports Commission has practically given up on its plan to build a brand new national training center in Pampanga.

For the last couple of years, the PSC, together with the Philippine Olympic Committee, pursued the plan to give the national athletes a new home.

Top sports officials led by PSC chairman Richie Garcia and POC chief Jose Cojuangco said the athletes deserve a better place to stay and to undergo training.

They believe that the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila and the Philsports Complex in Pasig are no longer conducive to training, are too crowded and too polluted.

A 50-hectare area in Pampanga, owned and operated by the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), presented the best option.

Garcia and Cojuangco have met CIAC officials a number of times, and for a while it appeared that a deal was very close to be signed for a long-term lease.

With the use of pre-fabricated materials, quarters that can house hundreds of athletes, and training venues for the different sports were to be put up in a year or two.

The PSC had planned to provide the seed money to get the construction going while it awaits full funding either through the sale and privatization of the RMSC or full support from the national government.

The POC also thought of having the private sector come in as sponsors. Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez had already offered to fund the construction of the badminton hall.

Cojuangco was confident that more individuals would come in once the project gets going.

But CIAC recently laid down its final offer for the PSC to rent the said 50-hectare property at P150,000 per hectare  for 10 years, a deal that would amount to P75 million.

The PSC found the offer too stiff.

“At first we were very upbeat because we already came to an agreement on certain terms. Then the figures came up and we backed out,” said Garcia.

“Let’s put it on hold. I guess we will have to wait for a better time,” said Garcia, who may have to step down as PSC chief right after the 2016 national elections.

Garcia said CIAC officials may have been under the impression that the PSC can make money out of the facilities to be built in the area.

“Maybe CIAC is under the impression that we can make money here. That it’s money-making. But what we’re planning to build is not a place for competition but training,” he said.

It’s not like the Rizal Memorial Stadium that can hold events where people come to watch and buy tickets.

“Unless we build a 20,000-seat coliseum there’s nothing to make money out of the training center,” he said.

For the meantime, the PSC is looking at building new training venues for a limited number of sports inside the Teachers Camp in Baguio City.

Already based in the summer capital for training are athletes from boxing and track and field, the two sports that delivered the most number of gold medals for the country in the last SEA Games.