MANILA – The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) instituted several belt-tightening measures to keep its commitment to support the members of the national team amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
This after the PSC board, led by Chairman William Ramirez, tackled the Department of Budget Management’s (DBM) directive to stop projects and the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF-EID) quarantine guidelines during a virtual board meeting on Wednesday.
The PSC announced that all sports activities are canceled until December of this year, in compliance with the IATF-IED directives, including the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) which was extended in select areas of the country up to May 15.
The PSC board also decided to finally withdraw further financial support to the twice-postponed 10th Asean Paragames (APG). The PSC shall, however, honor its previous commitments with the APG organizing committee to cover initial operations expenses.
The Philippine government spent PHP6 billion for the hosting 30th Southeast Asian Games in December last year. The country won the overall title.
“We heed the call of the national government to cut expenses as we reroute the majority of our resources to fighting the pandemic, but we also stand by our commitment to keeping supporting members of the national team,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said there is a status quo on allowance releases for national athletes and coaches.
He also thanked the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) for its steady remittances despite the enhanced community quarantine that is expected to affect Pagcor’s income and its remittances to the PSC.
“We continue to study projections and proposals and the board is ready to take necessary actions should they be needed,” Ramirez said.
The board meeting was also attended by PSC Commissioners Celia Kiram, Ramon Fernandez, Arnold Agustin, and Charles Maxey; and Executive Director Merly Ibay, Deputy Executive Directors Dennis Rivera, Atty. Guillermo Iroy, and Chief of Staff Marc Velasco. (PSC-PR)
