The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Commission on Higher Education signed on Friday a Memorandum of Agreement with the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) and State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) for the formation of a unified sports development program.
PSC Chairman Harry Angping said the program, which is aimed to assist the PRISAA and the SCUAA in the staging of the annual National Games, is in line with the instruction of President Gloria Arroyo when she appointed him in last month.
“We are here to make a new meaning in sports development by involving both the PRISAA and the SCUAA. This is line with the instruction of President Arroyo,” Angping said during the agreement at the Legend Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant along Roxas Boulevard.
Higher Education Chairman Emmanuel Angeles also said that some 2,000 private school and colleges as well as 111 state colleges and universities throughout the country would be benefited by the partnership.
“Our partnership is really a boost to Philippine sports,” said Angeles, who is also a lifetime chairman of the PRISAA.
Besides Angping and Angeles, the other sports leaders who attended the gathering were PRISAA President Gonzalo Duque, SCUAA chieaf Lauro Tacbas, PSC Commissioners Jose Mundo, Akiko Thomson and Eric Lorentizo.
Angping said that based on the agreement, the PSC will provide both the PRISAA and SCUAA the needed technical support as well as assistance in the training of the athletes and coaches and provide facilities for the staging of the National Games.
“We have abundance of athletes especially in the countryside, but what is lacking is the monitoring and identification of these talents. That is what we are seeking to achieve in this integrated sports development program,” Angping pointed out.
He also said that the effectivity of the agreement would start with the 2009 PRISAA National meet on April 20 in Naga City.
Angping likewise handed the sum of P1.5 million as the PSC’s assistance to the PRISAA National Games 2009 which will be held on April 19 – 25, 2009 in Naga City.
News taken from the Manila Times, Saturday, March 28, 2009
