By Kristel Satumbaga
Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez said the government sports agency is committed to its employees especially during this time of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ramirez said no regular and contractual employees will be removed under his leadership due to their dedicated service and loyalty to the government sports agency.
“We have to start sana removing people on Aug. 31, but kami sa PSC Board, we have a collective decision that it won’t happen,” he said during Tuesday’s online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
“For as long as I am chairman, I won’t remove employees.”
Ramirez said the PSC has 250 regular and more than 250 contractual employees.
Though its mandate is on sports, Ramirez said the agency is lending a helping hand to people in need during the global health crisis. They currently operate on their own savings after most of their budget from the government was realigned for the country’s fight to the pandemic.
They have also provided beds at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila and the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, which have become temporary medical facilities for coronavirus patients.
“We cannot just focus on sports. We have to adapt to the environment, look at people in need, because it is important to have that strong bond with the people, your employees, with the agency. We have to take care of each other,” Ramirez said.
He added they are looking out for their employee who tested positive of the virus, saying that they are finding ways to help with the hospital billing which amounted to more than P2 million.
