Manila—Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Ricardo “Ritchie” Garcia said yesterday’s Sports Summit held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium was a huge success.
The summit was well attended by all concerned sectors such as local government units that included Department of Interior and Local Government secretary Jesse Robredo and Department of Education secretary Armin Luistro, who all aired their views with regards to the grassroots development in the country.
“The LGU was able to hear the concerns and they were able to share what they feel,” said Garcia. “With the support promised by Robredo, the assurance by DepEd and the commitment of the League of Municipalities, I believe the Summit was a success.”
Garcia added that they will form a committee to follow up and review all that were discussed in the summit and implement some of the suggestions and programs that will be feasible for the country’s grassroots development.
According to Garcia, he hopes they will be able to implement all.
In one of the forums, Robredo defended DepEd’s holding of the Palarong Pambansa when one of the LGU representatives suggested to stop the annual multi-sporting event.
A representative from Calbayog made the suggestion, saying that a big budget is used for the annual national games. But they don’t produce gold medalists for the country.
Robredo explained that the Palarong Pambansa is not only to train student athletes to produce medals for the country. He said that it is DepEd’s way of imparting a holistic education for the students by learning values and character formation through sports.
Luistro, during his turn, said that he will continue to consult all sectors with regards to DepEd’s plans of incorporating grassroots sports development in their curriculum.
This was in answer to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) chairman Monico Puentevella’s appeal for the DepEd not to hesitate to call them for help in terms of sports development.
The Cebu City Grassroots Sports Program presentation was also well-received with Luistro himself asking if DepEd could duplicate the program.
He said that he didn’t get the chance to thoroughly study the program. But as he was leafing through it, he noticed that it is very comprehensive.
Leyte also presented their sports academy program.
Aside from the presentations and forums, the Sports Summit also held a sports expo of all National Sporting Associations (NSAs). Three booths won the expo contest—the Muay Thai, Dragon Boat and Finn Swimming.