IN THE last few editions of the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) meet, one of the best supported delegation was the Cebu Province. Thanks to the Cebu Province Sports Commission (CPSC), the once ignored athletes enjoyed Class A equipment and uniforms that were a cut above the rest of the delegates.
The CPSC also sent staff during the meet too, to help or solve problems as they come up. In non-Department of Education (DepEd) meets like the Batang Pinoy and the Philippine National Games (PNG), it was the same story. Post meet, thanks to the generous Michel Lhuillier, who was then the chairman, medalists from the province could even expect incentives.
That support has also led to Cebu Province fielding a bigger delegation in the national meets and performing better. It even made the top five of the PNG a couple of years ago and I think that was a first for Cebu Province.
However, last year in the Batang Pinoy, that was no longer the case and I attributed that to the hiccups accompanying a change in administration. But, months into her new term, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia made it certain on her views of DepEd’s involvement in sports when she told DepEd Cebu Province officials in a meeting that they should leave the organizing of sports meets to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
That didn’t push through though, but from there, you can get an idea on what kind of support the Cebu Province delegation will get from Cebu Capitol when the 2020 Cviraa meet kicks off in February in Dumaguete. And that’s a challenge for DepEd Cebu Province officials.
First question though, is the local government unit required to support a delegation in a DepEd meet. The short answer is no. But in Region 7, Cebu City has been very active in its support to its Cviraa team, something which Cebu Province started to do in the previous Cviraa meets.
I hope the DepEd Cebu Province can get creative in getting support for its delegation so the changes for the participants won’t be that jarring. Last year, Cebu Province also had a pre-Cviraa camp, which was again initiated by the sports commission. There’s no word whether that’s happening now. But DepEd Cebu Province does not have to wait for the sports commission people if it wants to have one, right?
It’s going to be interesting how Cebu Province will fare in Dumaguete this year.