THE Philippine Sports Commission can expect more than P1 billion from the 2025 General Appropriations Act, also known as the national budget, for its plans and programs for next year, according to PSC chairman Richard Bachmann.
“We can expect more than a billion for our NEP (National Expenditure Program) from the Department of Budget and Management. This is without the insertions (of funds) by our legislators. According to the DBM, this is historic that we are actually getting more funding,” said Bachmann.
“This will be geared towards all our programs and athletes for next year,” added Bachmann, who is nearly two years on the job.
His stint was highlighted by the country’s highly successful stint in the Paris Olympic Games through the twin golds of gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo and the bronze medals of boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas.
Bachmann said the government sports agency will continue fixing the facilities that the PSC administers: the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila and the Philsports Complex in Pasig.
“We already broke ground and have started to build the gym and dormitories for boxing and pencak silat at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex as well as fixing the gallery and bleachers at the Rizal ballpark,” he disclosed.
“Before the end of the year, we will also start renovating the dormitories at Rizal and Philsports and then next year will begin to work on the PSC bowling center,” he added.
The added funds, he said, “will also enable us to expand or add more to our plantilla or permanent positions in the PSC considering that presently we have a lot of and rely on contractual workers to keep us running.”
He said they have begun to upgrade the skills of the majority of the contractual employees so they could be eventually absorbed as regular PSC employes to adequately meet its obligations to all of its stakeholders such as the athletes and coaches in the national pool and the National Sports Associations.
“I would like to thank our hardworking PSC staff in handling the requirements of the National Para Games, Batang Pinoy National Championship and the BIMP-EAGA sportsfest that came one after the other in a span of a few weeks,” Bachmann noted.
“The need to have a bigger regular working staff of PSC employes has to be addressed and we are doing that now as we speak,” he said.
