Pages excited to reopen Cebu City sports

From left, standing, Ami Lopez, Rolly Diorico, Francis Ramirez, Councilor Raymond Garcia, Edward Hayco, Troy Malilong and Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros; (seated same order) Lorenzo Chao Sy, Jessica Honoridez, John Pages and Councilor Jessica Resch. | Contributed Photo.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Newly-appointed Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) Chairman John Pages is excited to take the charge of reopening the city’s vibrant sports scene that was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cebu City, much like the entire Philippines sports has been halted by the health pandemic since 2020.

Last month, CCSC and Cebu City EOC deputy chief implementor Joel Garganera announced that face-to-face sports events in the city are already allowed after more than two years.

With that in mind, one of the agenda during Pages’ first meeting as CCSC Chairman on Friday, March 11, with the CCSC commissioners and other stakeholders, was helping Cebu City’s sports to get back on its feet.

Present during the meeting were former CCSC Chairman Edward Hayco, Cebu City Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros, DepEd-Cebu City Division superintendent Dr. Rhea Mar A. Angtud, Cebu City Councilors Raymond Garcia and Jessica Resch.

They were joined by CCSC vice-chairman Lorenzo Chao Sy and CCSC commissioners Ami Lopez, Rolly Diorico, Francis Ramirez, Troy Malilong, and Jessica Honoridez.

“We are excited with the opportunities that we face with sports today. After two years of the pandemic, Cebu and the world have opened. Sports is open. There are so many organizers eager to restart their tournaments. The athletes are excited to compete. People want to go out and exercise,” said Pages who took over the CCSC chairmanship last February 20.

“We have received many calls about events being restarted. We will have the Palaro football (bubble) tournament next month. The Ironman will return this August. There will be an explosion of sporting activities this 2022.”

In April, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Central Visayas Regional Football Association (CVRFA) partnered to stage a bubble football tournament at the Cebu City Sports Center pitch. It will serve as a dry-run for the full face-to-face, multi-sports competition of the Palarong Pambansa if the Covid-19 trend in the country continues to weaken.

In addition, the Ironman 70.3 Philippines is also expected to return to Cebu in August. Cebu City is part of the 90-kilometer bike route of the prestigious international triathlon event that starts and ends at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City.

“There is a need to restart sports in Cebu. We hope to see plenty of tournaments, not only in basketball, throughout the city,” said Hontiveros.

Meanwhile, Garcia who is the head of Cebu City Council’s committee on finance told CCSC to submit its proposals for 2022, so they can seek a budget for its sports programs.

“Because of the limited 2022 budget of the CCSC, we will ask the Commission to submit its proposals for the remainder of the year. We will try to seek additional funding for sports,” said Garcia.     /rcg

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