RIZAL MEMORIAL COLISEUM BUSY IN 2020
THE historic Rizal Memorial Coliseum (RMC), refurbished to its old grandeur for last month’s 30th Southeast Asian Games, will be a very busy venue in 2020.
“We are very optimistic. There are a lot of events lined up in our calendar and we are excited to host them here inside this historic coliseum,” Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez said.
The coliseum, venue to countless victories and defeats in Philippine sports history especially basketball, underwent a major renovation late last year to host the gymnastics and four of the 56-sport SEA Games program. The RMC is considered a monument inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC), the country’s primary multisport facility built in 1936.
The 6,100-seat arena was venue to classic basketball competitions—from the Asian Basketball Confederation tournaments, to the MICAA and the university Athletic Association of the Philippines (uAAP), National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) and even Philippine Basketball Association games. The PSC expects to host these tournaments in the venue that is now—for the first time—air-conditioned.
This January, the PSC will celebrate its 30th foundation anniversary and as another milestone unfolds in the agency’s history, the agency will hold a simple yet meaningful celebration at the coliseum.
“This is a milestone for the PSC. As we celebrate our 30th year, we want it to be inside the Rizal Memorial Coliseum which has seen many significant events in Philippine Sports,” Ramirez said. The PSC also intends to hold the Batang Pinoy and Philippine National Games, nationals event, this year both at the RMSC and the PhilSports Complex in Pasig City, where other PSC venues were renovated.
The PSC also seeks to hold the fourth enshrinement of members of the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame at the coliseum on November 27.