COMMISSIONER Edward Hayco of the Philippine Sports Commission is pleased that he and new PSC chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio are on the same page when it comes to nurturing and promoting grassroots sports development on a national level.
“May pusong grassroots si Chairman Pato. In-sync ang aming ideas kaagad. He is a visionary and quick to pick up and his ideas and mine are aligned,” said Hayco of his pet advocacy during a radio program last week on Radyo Pilipinas 2, formerly known as DZSR Sports Radio.
Hayco, who oversees grassroots sports for the PSC, said Gregorio’s appointment was timely considering his close connections and friendships with Education Secretary Sonny Angara and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla, who, like the new PSC chief, are UP Diliman alumni.
“It is fortunate that he (Gregorio) is friends with Secretaries Angara and Remulla, who are not only sports-minded but also have a soft spot for grassroots sports. So this is what you call perfect timing,” said the former Cebu City Sports Commission chairman.
Hayco said that Gregorio is receptive to his plan to tap the nationwide network of the Private Schools Athletic Association, currently headed by Zamboanga City-based executive director Elbert Atilano, to fast-track the PSC’s grassroots programs.
“Why? Automatic overnight, you have 400 private schools nationwide na naka-align sa (grassroots) programs of the government. The PRISAA members have the facilities and competent coaches to implement the PSC policies and plans right away,” he noted.
He added that with a new chairman at the helm, the PRISAA, with its members in all 17 regions in the country, can become the grassroots arm of the government sports agency at minimal cost but with maximum impact.
Given the linkages that Gregorio, also a former rowing chief and Philippine Olympic Committee secretary general, has fostered over the years, the commissioner said that he could fit the pieces of the sports puzzle together in constructing an “Olympic super highway.”
“The new PSC chairman can assemble all of these arterial roads – the DepEd, local government units, PRISAA, etc. – in leading to our what I call our ‘Olympic super highway with the renewed collaboration of the POC and the National Sports Associations,” Hayco pointed out.
Hayco said he also agrees with Gregorio’s intentions that all national athletes and their coaches should not all stay in Metro Manila as a means of propagating their respective disciplines.
“You cannot just train national athletes in Manila but in their respective provinces so their sports can grow in the provinces where they came from,” he explained. “We shouldn’t uproot them but allow them to lure more athletes to their disciplines.”
