PH SPORTS FACILITIES UPGRADED
By Eddie Alinea of Spin.ph
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 10 Jul 2017
A little more than a year ago, newly-elected President Rodrigo Roa Duterte assumed the reign of government as head of this nation.
That offered a glimmer of hopes that the six-year neglect of Philippine sports by the previous regime beacons. That the election of DU30 to the Presidency in May?s national political exercise in 2016 can finally bring winds of change to bring back the glory Filipino athletes enjoyed in the global arenas not so long ago.
As if by cue, pint-sized Hidilyn Diaz brought home the silver medal in her event in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games held August in that Brazilian capital, in the process, breaking a 20-year medal drought the country had suffered in the quadrennial conclave known also as the ?Greatest Sorts Show on Earth.?
Immediately following the Zamboanguena?s trumphant march to the victory podium last gifted the country by boxer Mansueto ?Onyok? in Atlant in 1996, president Digong issued one marching orders after another to his newly-appointed members of the Philippine Sports Commission board in an initial efforts to remedy what many diagnosed as the dying state of sports in this country.
But first, the former Mayor of Davao City saw it fit to increase the allowances of athletes chosen to represent flag and country to international competitions from measly $300 to $1,000.
Digong then instructed anointed PSC chair William ?Butch? Ramirez, long-time confidante and his commissioners?basketball legend Ramon Fernandez, Charles Maxey, Arnold Agustin and Celia Kiram to implement ASAP measures needed under the circumstances to that effect, including the long-awaited setting up of the Philippine Sports Institute.
Immediately, too, the PSC dispatched a 50-man group of sports instructors the provinces to coordinate with Local Government Units, provincial sports leaders and all stakeholders on a regular weekly basis aimed at consulting those concerned in determining the needs in their respective localities in effecting a nation-wide grassroot development program.
?The PSI, actually, has been in full operation for several months now,? Ramirez assured Spin.Ph in a one-on-one interview last week. ?All he ingredients needed for embark a truly, honest massive grassroot program are already in place.
?No, hindi na ito ningas kugon as what had happened before in the previous attempts to set up similar schemes,? Ramirez asserted. ?This is what our President wants us to do so we might as well make good its implementation as mandated us by RA 6847 (PSC Law).?
The program, according to the PSC top honcho, includes the upgrading facilities of already existing sports venues by providing them with necessary equipment, training and support personnel.
The need of elite athletes will also be addressed, Ramirez said with ULTRA serving as the temporary national training center in the absence of a permanent one which is still under study.
An amount of P80 million has been earmarked to purchase of modern state of the art facilities on sports medicine.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea of Spin.ph.
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