Working wonders at PSC

It’s been only a little over two months that Patrick Gregorio has served as PSC chairman yet what he’s done so far could fill volumes of narratives chronicling his achievements. He’s called Pato for short and when he was tasked to organize the recent MPTC Tour of Luzon, DuckWorld Philippines was the vehicle that brought back to life the country’s obsession with road racing. The Tour was Gregorio’s last private venture before he was called in to take over PSC.

Sports has always played a big part in Gregorio’s life. He was BAP-SBP executive director, ABAP secretary-general, POC secretary-general, PBA chairman, MVPSF executive vice president, Smart Sports executive director, Manila SEA Games Organizing Committee director general and president of the Philippine Rowing Association. Every step of his sports journey, Gregorio has left a legacy to inspire others to follow in his footsteps. Under his watch, the Philippines participated in rowing at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. Cris Nievarez was the first Filipino rower in 20 years to compete at the Olympics and broke through in Tokyo. Then, in Paris, Joanie Delgaco made waves.

Moreover, Gregorio has a strong background in tourism, hotel management and business. Whenever an opportunity arises for sports to be a magnet for economic growth and solidarity, Gregorio will never be far away from making things happen. He’s an enterprising self-starter with a heart for athletes. It was no surprise that when he accepted the PSC chairmanship, Gregorio said his immediate priorities were to provide for the athletes’ welfare, to improve facilities and to develop a healthy citizenry. Raising the athletes and coaches’ allowances by P5,000 a month across the board was his first edict and in a snap, the burden to provide for their families was considerably eased.  It was Gregorio’s way of expressing his appreciation for their sacrifice and understanding of their plight. It was also his way of assuring everyone that he cares. In another initiative, Gregorio has reached out to NSAs to strengthen their bond of working together, to government agencies for a consolidation of support and to schools to lay the foundations of an inclusive and comprehensive sports program. He has opened the doors of the track ovals at the Rizal Memorial, PhilSports and Teachers Camp in Baguio to the public to push his campaign for a healthy citizenry. The other day, Gregorio presided in a massive summit of stakeholders at Solaire to pave the way for a consolidated effort to promote grassroots development, growth of elite athletes and a national spirit of unity through sports.

Only recently, it was announced that PSC had teamed up with the Department of Education and Hidilyn Diaz to establish the country’s largest weightlifting academy. “The core requirement of any sport is weightlifting,” said Gregorio. “But you just can’t donate equipment without teaching student-athletes how to use it properly and avoid injuries. Someone has to teach them the fundamentals. You need a champion, an icon, to drive this plan. You need Hidilyn and her academy to replicate the program in at least 300 schools that Secretary Sonny Angara has earmarked to offer a specialized sports curriculum.” Gregorio knows how to get things done and realizes no agency can do the job singlehandedly. It takes teamwork and as an enabler, PSC is rising to the occasion to bring together resources, expertise and partnerships to propel the initiative across all sports in schools nationwide. Gregorio is surely working wonders at PSC.