PSC commissioner Edward Hayco. | PSC photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines —Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) commissioner Edward Hayco has been visiting city after city to kickstart their nationwide grassroots development program for several months already.
One of their missions is to activate the Local Government Units’ (LGUs) Special Education Funds, which can be used to initiate or strengthen their sports programs for the youth.
To do this, the Department of Education (DepEd) must establish a separate medal tally in its sporting meets, particularly the Palarong Pambansa, which kicks off in July in Cebu City.
In an earlier interview, Hayco explained that having a separate LGU medal tally in Palarong Pambansa, besides the overall medal tally based on the regions, allows the LGUs to identify the sports in which they are strong and weak.
This way, they can either utilize their special education funds or find ways to initiate or strengthen their sports programs based on their forte sports.
“This is ambitious, but very realistic because it has been done. Who is the proof? We have Hidilyn Diaz and Elreen Ando. How will we replicate this program to the 1,500 LGUs is our challenge. Our starting point is the 400 PRISAA member schools that will help us unlock the Special Education Funds of these LGUs,” said Hayco in an earlier interview with CDN Digital.
“That’s the reason why gusto ta ang Palarong Pambansa should have another tally board which is LGU-based so the cities or even municipalities can identify the sports they excel at and not waste their money on sports they’re weak at.”
Hayco explained that LGUs can continue their existing basketball or volleyball leagues since these are the most popular sports, but with a separate medal tally from Palarong Pambansa, it would give them an idea of what sports they can add to develop their youth.
Hayco and PSC already submitted a recommendation for a separate medal tally for LGUs to DepEd Assistant Secretary Dr. Francis Bringas last month.
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