By Waylon Galvez
Following orders from Malacanang, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has cancelled all sports activities this year and will instead focus its budget on various outstanding commitments related to the country’s battle against COVID-19.
PSC chairman Butch Ramirez (PSC Images)
Led by chairman Butch Ramirez, the board held a virtual meeting Wednesday and scrapped all local events and one international competition to ensure that it can keep its commitment.
Both the Department of Budget Management and the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases prohibited activities even beyond the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).
“We heed the call of the national government,” said Ramirez. “To cut expenses as we reroute majority of our resources to fighting the pandemic, but we also stand by our commitment to keep supporting members of the national team.”
Ramirez announced that there is a status quo on allowance releases for athletes, coaches of the national team as he thanked Pagcor for its steady remittances to the agency.
However, with the ongoing lockdown, the PSC is expecting a gradual slowdown in contribution from Pagcor, prompting the sports body to look for options.
“We continue to study projections and proposals and the board is ready to take necessary actions should they be needed,” he said.
Affected sports events organized by the government sports agency include the Philippine National Games (PNG), Batang Pinoy and Palarong Pambansa, which is jointly organized with the Department of Education.
The board also decided to withdraw financial support to the postponed 10th ASEAN Paragames. The sports agency shall, however, honor its previous commitments with the APG organizing committee to cover initial operations expenses.
Aside from Ramirez, commissioners Charles Maxey, Ramon Fernandez, Arnold Agustin and Celia Kiram joined the meeting along with executive director Merly Ibay, deputy executive directors Dennis Rivera and Atty. Guillermo Iroy, as well as chief of staff Marc Velasco.