The Philippine Sports Commission announced that all sports activities are canceled until December of this year, in compliance with the Inter-agency Task Force directives.
In an online meeting held Wednesday, PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez discussed ways and means they could meet the outstanding commitments of the agency.
Commissioners Celia Kiram, Ramon Fernandez, Arnold Agustin, and Charles Maxey joined Ramirez, along with Executive Director Merly Ibay, Deputy Executive Directors Dennis Rivera, and Atty. Guillermo Iroy, as well as Chief of Staff Marc Velasco.
They deemed that based on the directives of the Department of Budget Management and the IATF, sporting activities — which is under sectors that will remain barred from operating under the general community quarantine — will be cancelled until a vaccine has been developed.
Consequently, the board also decided to finally withdraw further financial support from the twice-postponed 10th ASEAN Paragames. The PSC will still honor its previous commitments with the APG organizing committee to cover initial operations expenses.
“We heed the call of the national government to cut expenses as we reroute the majority of our resources to fighting the pandemic, but we also stand by our commitment to keep supporting members of the national team,” explained Ramirez.
Ramirez announced that there is a status quo on allowance releases for national athletes and coaches, and thanked PAGCOR for its steady remittances to the agency.
With the present lockdown, however, PAGCOR’s income has been greatly affected, and shall probably impact its remittances to PSC subsequently.
“We continue to study projections and proposals and the board is ready to take necessary actions should they be needed.”
