SAN CARLOS CITY -- A P28-million sports stadium will soon rise on a 5.8-hectare property along the circumferential road in this city in northern Negros Occidental.
Mayor Gerardo Valmayor Jr. told Bacolod City-based sports scribes that while the city wished to host bigger sports undertakings, the absence of such facilities hindered their plan to do so.
“Our city doesn’t have the capacity to host bigger sports events though we wanted it. We don’t have a standard track oval, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and international football facility thus the city decided to push for it,” he said.
Valmayor said the city government approved P20 million for the initial development of the sports facility.
“Though this is not enough, but like our other projects in the city, we will do it based on the availability of funds,” he said. “We will not seek loans just to finish it. We have enough sources to support the project.”
He added that with this project are the commitments of the business sector to build more hotels and restaurants which are important during the hosting of regional and national events.
“Honestly, we lack hotel rooms to accommodate the huge number of participants coming over for various tournaments. But our private sector has promised to help the local government address these issues,” he added.
Valmayor also said the city alongside the City Schools Division of San Carlos had a combined annual budget of P10 million for sports programs.
“We have this budget intended for the conduct of sports undertakings, including district meets, division meets, regional meets and national tournaments,” he said.
The mayor added that they also initiated programs helping deserving athletes together with several schools.
“This program actually started during the term of Vice Governor Eugenio Lacson, when he was still the mayor of San Carlos. We are very proud that many of our student-athletes were able to earn tertiary education in many colleges and universities in Bacolod, Cebu and even Manila,” he further said.