PSC moves PNG
PSC to move PNG from April to October to give way to Palaro, SEA Games
THE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is moving the Philippine National Games (PNG) from April to October to give way to two major sporting events that will happen in the first two quarters of the year.
PSC Commissioner Ramon “El Presidente” Fernandez told Sun.Star Cebu that the board has decided to move the event because of the Palarong Pambansa and the Southeast Asian Games.
“It’s has been moved to October, because the Palarong Pambansa is in April while the Sea Games is in August. PNG is for college athletes and we want to have more participation, that is why we moved it to October because most schools will have their semestral break by then,” Fernandez said.
The annual Palarong Pambansa will be hosted by Antique in May, while the biennial Sea Games will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Aug. 19 to 31.
Earlier, the PSC board authorized Fernandez to meet with Cebu City and Cebu Province officials for the planned hosting by Cebu of the annual tournament.
However, Cebu Province Sports Commission executive director Atty. Ramil Abing is passing the hosting rights to the Cebu City Sports Commission, since they can’t provide what Cebu City can offer to the athletes. Cebu Province is also not yet ready in terms of facilities, amenities and accessibility.
However, Cebu City also has its own reservations.
Even if it has the capability to organize, host and run the event because it has the manpower and experience and the proximity of the venues favors the commission, one question concerns the financial backup from City Hall.
When the administration of Mayor Tomas Osmeña took over the City Hall last July, the dreams of DepEd Cebu City of hosting the Palarong Pambansa for next year were scrapped to give way to the more pressing school needs.
Councilor Joy Augustus Young, the deputy mayor for education said that this is not yet the right time for Cebu City to host the Palarong Pambansa because of financial problems.
But while Palarong Pambansa is a concern of DepEd, the PNG, on the other hand, is a concern of the CCSC.
CCSC is also undergoing transition with the addition of new commissioners.