Cebu City offered to host Batang Pinoy

Cebu City will have a crack at hosting this year’s Batang Pinoy athletic meet in  November after it was offered to the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) in the recently held Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Sports Summit at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Young said that he is fine with Cebu City hosting the event as it would present an opportunity for the local athletes to compete in another national multi-sporting event. But the decision will have to be made by the CCSC.

Before making a decision, he wants the CCSC to do a very thorough evaluation of the offer.

“I don’t want to influence their decision. They will have to be the ones to decide on this because all the work will fall on them,” said Young, a staunch supporter of Cebu sports.

Young admitted that he is not very familiar with the event since it is not a program of the Department of Education.

The Batang Pinoy is a program of the PSC for talent identification.

The vice mayor said  he wants the CCSC to be very careful in making their decision.

He said he does not want a repeat of what happened to the city’s hosting of the Southeast Asian Games in 2005, wherein it resulted to a disagreement between former mayor Tomas Osmeña and then CCSC chairman Jonathan Guardo.

Young said that if the city needs to spend on it, he also wants to know if its advantages would be worth it.

CCSC chairman Edward Hayco, for his part, said he was surprised by the offer but has not made any commitment yet.

“Before saying anything about it, I want to first consult the leadership of the city within the next few weeks. If we have their support then we’ll go ahead. If not, we won’t do it,” Hayco said. /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON