Saturday, April 14, 2007 Cviraa delegates for Palaro ‘missing’
WITH their departure for the Palarong Pambansa just around the corner, a Department of Education official is worried some of the Central Visayas delegates might not make their trip.
This year’s Palaro Pambansa will be in Koronadal City on April 22-29 but the Central Visayas delegation is leaving a week early since there is only one direct trip a week between Cebu and General Santos—approximately an hour away from Koronadal.
“Nahadlok ko kay April 13 na, wa pa dyapun nangabot,” said Vivian Giñete, the Bureau of Physical Education and School Sports 7 head. The delegates were supposed to arrive in Cebu yesterday.
Giñete said the delegation needs to be at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) at 2 p.m. today for a pre-departure briefing before their 7:30 a.m. departure on board Superferry on Sunday. They will spend the night at CCSC.
Those who can’t make it for Sunday’s trip, will have to try either flying to General Santos or to Davao, but both options are not viable. Though the Palaro will start on April 22, the players need to be there on April 18 for their screening.
“There is only one flight per day to Gensan, and most are fully booked already. Davao is almost four hours away. They could go through Cagayan, but that is almost eight hours away from Koronadal,” said Giñete.
P2.3M
Meanwhile, aside from the missing athletes, Giñete is thankful for the financial support from some of the LGUs for the delegation.
They got P600,000 and two Kaohsiung buses from Cebu City, while Negros Occidental’s Gov. George Arnaiz also pledged P100,000. The delegation also got P2.3 million from the national government.
“For the fare alone we are spending almost P1.2 million and almost P1 million for our food since we will be staying there for 16 days. I am thankful for those who offered their support,” said Giñete.
As for the athletes’ allowances, Giñete said they can only give them if they have money left after paying for their transportation, food, uniform and insurance. (ML)
