By Waylon Galvez
Officials of the Philippine Sports Commission and the Department of Health are strategizing a guideline to form a Joint Task Force that will monitor sports activities approved by the government under the General Quarantine Community (GCQ).
Marc Velasco, the PSC’s national training director said Friday that the agency is talking to their counterparts from the health sector with regards to the rules on how to properly monitor the sports activities.
Part of the task force’s role is to submit an assessment report to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease or IATF if the sports activities are effective and not causing transmission of COVID-19.
“It’s still in the planning stage, but it’s going to be a joint task force between the Philippine Sports Commission and the Department of Health,” said Velasco.
Sports given green light to resume activities like running and biking are golf, swimming, tennis, badminton, equestrian and skateboarding.
More are expected to follow as various national sports associations have also submitted their respective proposals to the Philippine Sports Institute, a sector of the PSC which Velasco heads.
The proposals will be forwarded to the IATF for approval.
That is the reason why it is important to monitor the sports activities, although Velasco mentioned that as a joint task force, the ‘policing power’ to stop activities of a certain sport is not part of their mandate.
“As a task force, what it can do is monitor, assess and then make a report or a recommendation to the IATF,” he said.
Velasco expects more sports activities to be allowed if coronavirus cases slow down.
“But for now, competitions are not allowed, only training of athletes on sports approved by the IATF – either for leisure or if they are part of the national team,” said Velasco.
