In the hopes of starting the ball rolling for the country’s hosting of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte has named Sen. Miguel Zubiri chairman of the organizing committee.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Butch Ramirez revealed this yesterday, and Zubiri, an expert in the sport of arnis, is expected to meet with the stakeholders from both the government and the private sector, particularly the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).
“Call ng meeting si Senator Zubiri sa POC and the PSC anytime next week,” said Ramirez.
“Host kasi tayo, the POC cannot operate without the government so the role of Zubiri is to represent the President and the government at patakbuhin ang organizing committee,” added Ramirez.
According to the PSC chief, the local Olympic body – led by its president Peping Cojuangco Jr., – was already informed of the development through POC vice president Joey Romasanta.
This would be the fourth time the country is hosting the biennial event after successfully staging it in 1981, 1991 and 2005, where the national team bagged the overall title.
Ramirez said that the meeting with Zubiri is important.
“Pag-uusapan yan sa meeting, the money will come from the government, the organizing committee will be run by the POC and it’s a collaboration under the chairman (Zubiri),” said Ramirez.
“The budget from PSC, if you look at the setup before (2005) nandyan si POC at nandyan ako. But the one running the technical aspect is ang POC, kami will provide the money and government offices will help the POC.”
“It’s really a government activity kasi boss ang Pilipinas, so confirmed yan, malalaman natin setup ng organizing committee pag nag-call ng meeting (Zubiri). Hintayin na muna namin papel from Malacañang, confirmed yan coming from Secretary Bong Go and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea,” Ramirez added.