A JOINT Administrative Order (JAO) between the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) and the Department of Health (DOH) was released Monday, July 27, providing a guideline on the conduct of physical and sports activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez expressed relief that the JAO has been finalized after over a month of collaboration with both agencies.
"We all recognize the importance sport plays in building one's strong immune system, what we just wanted to ensure was that they keep safe and away from the virus while they are doing it," he said.
Ramirez signed the joint issuance along with GAB Chairman Abraham Mitra and DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III. It covers non-professional sports under the jurisdiction of the PSC, professional sports under the GAB, professional and non-professional persons in sports like athletes, coaches, trainers, promoters and other parties involved in the conduct of sports like venue management, local government units, schools and workplaces.
Conditions and requirements for the conduct of sports are given for five risk severity ratings "we now observe from high risk (enhanced community quarantine or ECQ) to areas considered low risk or those classified under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ)."
PSC National Training Director Marc Velasco, the agency's technical working group lead to this tripartite partnership, said that while all parties worked towards getting the guidelines fine-tuned, they expect to update these guidelines as developments happen in this volatile health crisis in our hands.
"It is a work in progress, but we are happy that we finally have an official issuance which recognizes the importance of sport in this pandemic. This will help hasten our moving forward," he added.
At present, the PSC is mid-way its online consultations with the different national sports associations to help them craft a guideline this time for the return of training of the national team, specifically those who are gunning for, or have qualified for the Olympics. (SunStar Baguio)