Thursday, July 10, 2008 Davao Oriental to expand sports program By Marianne Saberon-Abalayan
THE province of Davao Oriental will hold an inter-district sports summit to promote sports development in the grassroots level, said provincial sports coordinator Helino "Jun" Abraham Jr.
"There was a sports summit held in Mati City recently. But we are planning to hold a sports summit in every district to get everyone involved in sports development," Abraham said.
Davao Oriental, which occupies a total land area of 5,164 square kilometers, has two congressional districts, 13 municipalities, and one city.
"The province is bent on pooling its resources to focus on boxing, lawn tennis, swimming, badminton, and track and field as priority sports although we will also support popular sports like basketball, volleyball, and table tennis on the side," he added.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William "Butch" Ramirez earlier called on local government units (LGUs) to conduct sports summits to provide them direction in determining focus sports, mapping out blueprint for sports development, and educating stakeholders on the importance of sports in the communities.
Ramirez made the call during the Mindanao Sports Summit held recently in Tubod, Lanao del Norte.
Davao del Norte also held a sports summit recently. Panabo City, inspired by its outcome, is finalizing details to also conduct a sports summit of its own on August 8 and 9 for all its stakeholders.
