P2 B repair of SEAG venues set to start soon

The Philippine Sports Commission seeks to get the ball rolling on its plan to renovate and modernize the decadesold Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila and PhilSports Complex (formerly Ultra) in Pasig in 2018.

An estimated P2-billion is needed for the facelift of existing facilities which may be tapped for the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and the commission is determined on its efforts to seek additional funding from other government entities.

The PSC stands to get P209 million from the 2018 national budget but without capital outlay so officials had sought the help of Sec. Alan Peter Cayetano and Sec. Bong Go and Sen. Manny Pacquiao in trying to get supplemental budget.

PSC executive director Sannah Frivaldo said they were successful in convincing authorities to provide the agency with capital outlay but coursed through the Department of Public Works and Highways. Moreover, she said Pacquiao after visiting the RMSC, himself committed P1-billion to the endeavor, while his colleagues also made pledges.

“We’re very happy with the outpouring of support and we’ll be on our feet in the first quarter of 2018, following up on these commitments. We’ll be relentless in this endeavor and hopefully we’ll get our target amount,” said Frivaldo.

She said the PSC has until the first quarter of 2018 to convince other the concerned branches to divert a supplemental budget to the sports body from the national budget.

“Rest assured we will make a lot of efforts to put the funds towards PSC’s undertaking,” Frivaldo said.

The PSC board has also decided to channel a portion of the agency’s other source of funding – the national sports development fund (NSDF) from remittances of state-run casinos – to the repair works.