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Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Oyson: Mandaue should not fret over Seag expense
By Manuel N. Oyson, Jr.
Counter Punch
When Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc) scouted around for alternate hubs as early as last year, there were many who bid: Cebu City, Mandaue City and Danao City. Their sports officials said they were willing to host some of the events of the Seag, including transportation, hotel accom-modations, manpower and feeding the needs of the various delegations. Aren’t we even calling for volunteers for the Seag?
Of course the respective cities that made bids were fully aware of funding requirements. Estimates were made of how much each host city would be spending based on the prospective number of delegates. Not to mention refurbishing and renovating standing stadiums and arenas to fit world-class standard. The Cebu City Sports Commission and the City Government announced that it would be able to fork something like P10 million. From what I was told by City Council sports committee chairman Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem some weeks back, the promised funding is only short by P3 million.
FREELOADERS. This can be easily covered by well-meaning friends and businessmen when the biennial regional games come to the south. Cebu City would be able to comply with the budget requirements, he told me. So far there has been no peep that the City would come up short to fulfill its hosting. It’s all systems go. I was thus intrigued by the story of our fellow scribe Rommel C. Manlosa in this page last Wednesday: “Are there freeloaders in Seag?” The story said the Philippine Amateur Judo Association (Paja) and the Philippine Karate Fedeartion (PKF) have asked for round trip tickets and accommodations for their respective delegations.
This Mandaue City can provide. But what really mystified me was why each group has to have 42 members. In other words, 84 people are asking to come to Mandaue where judo and karate will be held. The story did not say how many are the players and how many are the officials – all coming from the Philippines alone. But Cheryl Ouano, executive director of the Mandaue City Sports Commission, clarified that Paja only has a 26-member group, including 10 officials. The karatedo squad has 31 athletes and seven officials, 38 in all.
SHOWCASE. Cheryl admits there is a problem on transportation. She had already admitted this Philsoc’s last meeting. I called up Philippine Airlines recently and was informed that round-trip air fares on ordinary fares (Mactan-Manila-Mactan) is something like P6,096 to date. For 84 people taking the ordinary fares same way (assuming they are not finicky about choice of accommodations), the cost would be something like P240,000, excluding terminal departure fees.
Of course, less the usual discounts for large groups of travelers. Business class accom-modations would be something like P300,000 or something like P7,000 per passenger. Certainly, the rest of those not in the official lists would be nothing else than freeloaders. To put it simply, support staff, assistants, assistants to the assistants, masseurs, cheerleaders and plain gofers. Or simply hangers-on.
If I were Cheryl, I would not stew so much. In the first place, one of the reasons advanced by those who offered bids to be regional hubs of the Philsoc is to showcase their respective areas as world-class and tourism-oriented cities, notwithstanding the demise of the much-ballyhooed Megadome in the case of Mandaue.
DELICACIES. The dome just failed to take off. Whatever expense Mandaue may expend, it may be repaid a hundredfold. Let us just assume that each of the 84 members of the twin delegations will go on a buying spree for take home or pasalubong just lapping Mandaue’s up famous masareal, otap, budbod, pagudpod, masi, bibingka and other spending P2,000 each. Even more.
Isn’t that contributing something to the city’s economy? Include also their friends who may be enticed to join their shopping sprees. That is counting the Filipinos alone.
How about the participants from eight other nations who would be something like 300 or more in all? They may also want to play take-home. Since, there are no hotels in Mandaue, all of the delegations would be billeted in nearby Cebu City.
Regardless of whether the arrangement would be twin sharing or three in a room, the fact of the matter is that Cebu and its sister city will economically benefit, including the taxi industry. And they are supposed to be in Cebu a month before Nov. 27.
In my next column, I shall take up Cebu City’s own beef.
PASING-IT. To my esteemed friend, Juanito Jabat of “Have Bat Will Strike” of The Freeman, thanks for the kind words. This is an old Turk who refuses to fade away. I owe you one.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Those who think we are on target for the overall title are just being optimistic.” – Michael M. Keon, training director of the national contingent to the Seag mno@sunstar.com.ph)
(August 23, 2005 issue)
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