PHILIPPINE Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William "Butch" Ramirez on Wednesday, November 7, said PSC's partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) is "historical" as it is happening for the first time since the birth of the national sports agency 28 years ago.
Ramirez said, "This is a milestone journey. We all came here for this collaboration. This is historical because the President is also from Davao."
DepEd regional directors and representatives from all over the country along with PSC and Philippine Sports Institute executives and coordinators gathered at the Pinnacle Hotel and Suites, Davao City for a two-day national sports planning workshop that started Tuesday.
He said that the DepEd-PSC partnership is a "milestone development," citing DepEd's crucial participation in grassroots sports of the country.
"We believe that without DepEd there will be no grassroots sports program. DepEd is playing a pivotal role in grassroots sports program. It is very wise for PSC to work with DepEd and the local government units because grassroots sports program could never be realize without collaboration," the Dabawenyo PSC chief said.
Thus, he said programs like the Batang Pinoy, Palarong Pambansa and the Philippine National Games will not be possible without DepEd support as PSC secure support from DepEd for its facilities, participants and manpower.
He went on saying that PSC will not dictate on Deped but will provide the latter experts and coaches, sports science, training and funding. Ramirez added, "The journey can be rough and difficult but visionaries start that way. We really have to start para may iiwanan kaming direction sa Philippine sports after 2022."
DepEd Assistant Secretary Revsee Escobedo, for his part, said the first major collaboration betwen both agencies is a brainchild of Ramirez and DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones.
"This is major step and major development in our grassroots program. We welcome the initiatives and efforts of PSC to develop and train athletes and coaches. We need the technical assistance of the PSC so we could improve our sports programs, training and capacity and potential of our athletes, to raise the level of competition in regional meets and Palaro," Escobedo said, adding that through this, athletes' level of skills and talents will also improve for them to be competitive nationally and internationally.
He also said that while DepEd already has a sports program incorporated in their curriculum, they are also open developing the curriculum to provide athletes and coaches with better understanding on sports science.
"We welcome the assistance of PSC. Matutulungan din how to harness skills and potentials of our athletes. Ano ang kakulangan ng athletes and coaches the PSC will provide," Escobedo said.
He also said that the joint planning with PSC will help them craft plans and programs for athletes and coaches' development.
PSC's linkages with the Korea Institute of Sports Science and United State Sports Academy are seen to benefit the unified grassroots sports program that both government agencies are pursuing.