Enter the Transformer

 PSC chairman Patrick Gregorio has been described as a “transformative leader” and in a sense, he’s like the heroic Autobot of the popular “Transformers” creation that turns robot factions into vehicles, animals and other forms. He’s imaginative, innovative and irrepressible.

In his first six months at the PSC helm since July, a sports fan observed that Gregorio has done things that the agency never experienced in over 30 years. Take the makeover of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex for example. If you haven’t visited the grounds for over a year, you’ll be amazed at how the multi-sports facility now looks.

Last January, Rizal reopened the doors of its Tennis Center to host the first-ever WTA 125 tournament in the country. Back in the day, the surface was a layer of crushed seashells over a hard base. Within 45 days, PSC completed the renovation of seven courts up to WTA standards. Welcoming the WTA players was the surface of an acrylic-cushioned, all-weather hardcourt. Over 2,000 seats were added to capacity. Gregorio said the event’s success has inspired plans to hold more WTA competitions in the future, elevating to 250 next year and by 2028, to 500 or even 1000 – all in the spirit of sports tourism.

Rizal’s facelift was coordinated with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon. Gregorio said the Mayor and Secretary were instrumental in getting things done from the outside look to the asphalting of the roadways inside the complex. In front of the Rizal Memorial Coliseum is now a park-like garden with flowers, plants and trees. Gregorio called it Rizal’s version of a Rockwell park, not on a large scale but classy, environmentally-friendly and accessible to the public.

Gregorio said when he initially stepped foot at the complex to begin his term, it was like a nightmare dawning. “Facilities were in disarray and honestly, I wanted to die,” he said. “I followed President Marcos’ mandate of finishing what was started, improving on what facilities we had. In the clean-up stage, we brought out 40 truckloads of debris, straightened long lines of exposed electric wires and, would you believe, found pump houses with pajamas, meaning people actually lived inside.”

The transformation also involved moving the taekwondo center to its own building, now under construction, and using the previous structure for a secretariat to serve NSAs on the bottom floor and a dorm on the top floor, tapping chef Billy King to upgrade free meals for athletes and coaches, refurbishing the NSA lounge, sprucing up the media room, turning the former PNB branch into a VIP hospitality center and pushing through with the construction of a seven-floor, 200-bed dorm. More on Rizal’s transformation in tomorrow’s column.