By WAYLON GALVEZ
Mayor Richard Gomez said the sports facilities in the city of Ormoc are available for national team athletes with disabilities when they prepare for the ASEAN Para Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Gomez, a former national team athlete, said that the Philippine fencing team will have their bubble training camp in the city prior to the SEA Games, similar to what it did for two months before the last Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for Asian fencers.
The actor turned politician said that officials of Philspada or the Philippine Sports for the Differently Abled have reached out to him about holding training camps for the disabled athletes.
“In fact tumawag na rin samin ang Philispada para sa mga disabled athletes kung puwede mag-training dito (In fact the Philspada called us and asked of the disabled athletes can train here),” said Gomez as he appeared on The Chasedown last Saturday, May 22 on One PH over Cignal TV.
“Sabi ko walang problema sa amin yan.”
Gomez said that sports will always have a special place in his hearth despite his busy schedule as a public servant. As an athlete, he won a gold medal with fencing’s foil team during the 2005 Manila SEA Games.
He is now the president of the Philippine Fencing Association (PFA).
Gomez said that since he started his term as Ormoc City mayor, they have maintained an active program in sports with an annual allocation of P160 million, which allowed them to build sports facilities.
According to Gomez, he already asked the Philspada leadership led by Mike Barredo to hold an ocular inspection.
The 11th ASEAN Para Games in Hanoi will take place Dec.17 to 23, two weeks after the 31st SEA Games.
