The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Peter Paul Patrick Lucas
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) recently laid down a five-year action plan seeking to make sports accessible to all Filipinos.
This developed as key officials of the government sports agency converged in a three-day directional meeting to set the course for the aggressive promotion of an energetic citizenry throughout the country.
According to PSC Chairman William Ramirez, the move was in support of President Duterte’s directive to develop sports in the grassroots level where potential champion athletes can be untapped.
“This is the mantra of President Duterte. Let’s develop a sporting culture with the help of the LGUs (local government units),” he said.
Ramirez explained that they are seeking not only to create a culture that generates a wider base of athletic talents but also promote a healthy lifestyle among the communities in the LGUs.
Recently, the PSC carried out a month-long sports caravan participated in by governors, mayors and sports leaders from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila. It then created a new format of responsibility levels applicable to the implementation of the different programs of the government sports agency relative to the reinforcement of the country’s grassroots development efforts.
“We will collaborate with all LGUs in the country to realize this project. It cannot be done without them,” Ramirez noted.
Meanwhile, the PSC has also vowed to create a database of all Filipino athletes nationwide in an effort to continue glorifying former sports heroes who have given the country honors in past international competitions.
“We don’t have a record of all the athletes who sacrificed themselves for the glory of our country,” said PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez.
The documentation of all athletes will begin with the participants in the Batang Pinoy Games and the Philippine National Games.
The PNG will have its national finals on December 3-9 in Cebu City, while the Batang Pinoy will begin its regional qualifying on July 9-15 in Oroquieta City for the Mindanao leg. The Visayas leg is scheduled September 10-16 in Dumaguete, while the Luzon leg is slated in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur province, from October 22 to 28.