By Waylon Galvez
Games and Amusements Board (GAB) Chairman Baham Mitra said he is excited to see professional athletes return to action – even in practice only.
With the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) ending on Aug. 18, teams in the PBA and Philippine Football League can start making their schedule for the restart of their respective training sessions once the government put Metro Manila back to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) status.
Pro athletes, particularly from the PBA, were supposed to start training last Wednesday, but the decision of the government to revert Metro Manila from GCQ back to MECQ pushed the ‘restart’ later this month.
The decision to return to MECQ from Aug. 4 to Aug. 18 was in response to the “time out” called by the health workers who were apparently overwhelmed by the sudden surge of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases.
“Yes… it’s been months,” said Mitra in a message to Tempo referring to sports entertainment’s absence in everyday life of Filipinos following the games on television, the Internet and even live action.
“We’re just concerned lang talaga with the health, and with the cases going up, as much as we want to resume, we want to make sure that we do it correctly,” said the former Palawan governor.
The decision to allow pro athletes to return to training was approved by the tripartite Joint Administrative Order (JAO) of GAB, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
Mitra signed the guidelines under JAO with PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez and health secretary Francisco Duque III last month.
Although the pro athletes were not allowed to restart under the status of MECQ, Mitra said the 15-day “time out” gave the JAO to improve the guidelines with few amendments, including the implementation of penalties on would be offenders.
“Maybe on the first offense is warming, then second offense is suspension, and then third offense is revocation of license,” said Mitra, adding that also being included is the “inter-zonal travel” for 3×3 players going to a ‘bubble’ in Laguna.
Another idea that Mitra is proposing is for teams to provide shuttle service for players and coaches.
Mitra said that while the idea would give teams additional cost, he is confident it would ensure the safety of concerned individuals since the vans would only travel from homes to gyms back and forth.
“Hatid sundo sa bahay sila, wala naka-lagay pero ako I encouraged that. Takot lang sa costs. Hatid sundo diretso bahay mga players and coaches, yan na ang plano,” said Mitra.
He also clarified that only the pro leagues under GAB that are given the green light under the JAO agreement, and these include the PBA, the Philippine Football League, 3×3 Chooks To Go Tournament, and pro boxers.
