THE Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission are looking to start the training of athletes bound for the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games in July and have sought the support of local government units in setting up “mini-bubbles” for the actual workouts.
POC President and Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, the chief of mission to the SEA Games, arrived at this consensus during a dialog between them and members of the SEAG secretariat yesterday.
“What if the PSC budget of P200 million falls short?” Tolentino asked of the allotment the Department of Budget and Management gave the PSC for the country’s buildup and participation in the games set Nov. 21 to Dec. 2 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
“Baka may gusto mag-ninong muna sa ating mga athlete, we are very open to this proposal,” Fernandez said as he reiterated his earlier call for sports-minded local government officials outside Metro Manila and surrounding provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan in sponsoring the workouts.
As a former mayor of Tagaytay, Tolentino said this would need the endorsement of the Department of Interior and Local Government to prosper. He added he is willing to set up training camps for skateboarding and cycling in the Cavite city.
Both officials were hopeful they would be able to appeal to the sense of nationalism of local government officials.
