Friday, January 12, 2007 PSC nixes plan to revive PNG By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Correspondent
THERE is little chance of reviving the Philippine National Open Games (PNG) this year.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said because of the budget cut, reviving the PNG would be hard since the country is preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Ramirez had planned to revive the PNG in November last year but decided to put off his plan for a year. But with the measly P37 million budget allocated for PSC for 2007 by the Department of Budget and Management, Ramirez said it would be hard to do so.
“The budget for it is gone. It is a good thing that we still have the Palarong Pambansa and the Philippine Olympic Festival of the POC (Philippine Olympic Committee) so that our athletes still have an avenue for competition,” the sports czar said.
The PNG, a brainchild of former POC head Celso Dayrit, was last held in 1997 in Cebu City during the incumbency of former PSC chairman Philip Ella Juico.
Ramirez said it is a good thing that POC came to the rescue, when it organized the Olympic Festival, as it filled the gap PNG left.
“POC chairman Robert Aventajado and president Peping Cojuangco saw the need to bridge the gap. After the Palarong Pambansa, the athletes do not have a higher competition to take part in, to look forward to,” Ramirez said.
“The PNG was smoother, more organized, more established, but it has the same concept as that of the Olympic Festival,” Ramirez added.
However, despite the latest seback, Ramirez is optimistic that the Mindanao Friendship Games will be revived and the planned Visayas Games and Luzon Games will push through.
“We will have more activities in the regional level. But as of the moment, we are focusing on the Olympic Games preparation,” said Ramirez, who added that as of now, their main concern is winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal.
During Ramirez’ tenure as PSC chief in early 2005, the country collared its first ever over-all title in the Southeast Asian Games. Last year, the country made its strongest finish in the Asian Games since 1962 with four gold medals.
If plans push through, the regional games will be the only meet handled by the PSC since the Palaro was returned to the Department of Education’s jurisdiction last year.
