MANILA, 7 February 2003 — Both the Philippine Olympics Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) have thrown their full support to the staging of the prestigious Asian track and field championships at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in September.

POC president Celso Dayrit set aside his long-standing rift with outspoken athletics chief Go Teng Kok to attend the launching of the 44-nation trackfest and graciously make a pitch for the event.

PSC chairman Eric Buhain expressed his support to the hosting of the competition.

Amid apprehensions that the budget for the event will be affected by the belt-tightening measures planned to be undertaken by the agency, Buhain said he will back up the staging of the event.

“I’m not a man who will back out of my commitment,” said Buhain. “It is already a commitment not only by the PSC, but by the whole country as well.”

Buhain last year signified his support by releasing the $20,000 hosting bond to the Asian Athletics Association last year in Sri Lanka. Buhain said the event could be a dry-run for the country’s hosting of the 2005 SEA Games.

The PSC chair also stressed the fact that bringing to the country 1,000 foreign athletes and officials is also an opportunity to prove that the Philippines is a safe place to be in spite of worldwide terrorist threats.

AAA officials will also convene their congress during the event, aside from the programs prepared for the opening and closing ceremonies.

While Go estimated that 30 million pesos is needed to host the event, Buhain thought that 10 million pesos would be enough.

The PSC chief said they are ready to provide 5 million pesos for the event, adding that 1 million pesos was actually advanced when the country made the bid last year.

Buhain also learned from Nicholas that the AAA will assist the organizers in the amount of $80,000.

With the support of the PSC and AAA, Buhain said the PATAFA doesn’t have to raise additional funds. Go said the AAA subsidy is standard operating procedure.

“We don’t intend to hide that. In fact, it was I who told Mr. Nicholas to tell Buhain about the donation,” said Go.

International Olympic Committee representative Frank Elizalde and other national sports association presidents also rallied behind the meet which the country hosted in 1993 and 1973.

Government and private sectors have started to pool their support to the biggest sporting event the country will host this year which is estimated to cost 30 million pesos.

Earlier, the PSC, through commissioners Mike Barredo and Ambrosio de Luna, committed itself to support the Asian championships in keeping with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s thrust to promote the country among foreigners.

“I take this as a good sign that the Asian championships will be a huge success not only for Philippine sports but for the whole Filipino nation as well,” said Go.

The Philippines, which won a bronze medal through Elma Muros in 1993, is expected to do better this time even against the world superpowers in athletics like China.

Go said the country’s long- and middle-distance runners and long jumpers are at par with Asia’s best athletes and will give their best shot in front of their countrymen.

He said the Asian meet organizers will itemize the budget which was originally pegged at 30 million pesos, including the proposed massive rehabilitation of the 70-year-old Rizal Memorial track oval.

The plan was spurred by the assessment of Asian Athletics Association secretary general Maurice Nicholas that the venue is still fit to host the tournament with only minor repairs needed.

Nicholas said despite its age and size, the 70-year-old Rizal memorial track and field stadium is still fit to host the Asian athletics championships this September.

This was the assessment of Nicholas after conducting an inspection of the stadium’s condition recently.

“If I’m to decide, I would recommend a total renovation, but if you want to save money, we can just make some minor repairs,” said Nicholas before flying back to Singapore to make his report.

Two countries, Japan and South Korea — have offered to host the event but lost out to the Philippines in a bidding held last year. The two, however, are on standby, in the event the Philippines withdraws its hosting offer. The last time the stadium took a major facelift was in 1993 when the country hosted the Asian trackfest. The Rizal Memorial Stadium was built in 1934 for the last staging of the Far Eastern Games. It was also the site of the second Asian Games in 1954 and the Southeast Asian Games in 1981 and 1991.

“We have more than 500 athletes and 300 officials from some 40-plus countries which are members of the 3As coming to Manila. They come to have topnotch competition and share the excitement of a successful sports event. I’m sure the Philippines is capable of providing these in the 15th Asian Championships,” Nicholas added.

Nicholas said the track, which was built in 1993 when the country last hosted the Asian track meet, can still meet the standards with some works needed on lane 1.

He noted that except for lane 1 which is already worn out, there is a need to scrub the whole of the 400m track to make it look like brand new.

Go said: “We are happy to receive that feedback because it means we don’t have to spend too much repairing the venue.”

Go added that even if we don’t have world-class venue, “we can compensate it with our efficiency in running the operations of the event.”

Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association secretary general Ben Silva-Netto said the private contractors who made the Rizal memorial track and field stadium in 1993 are set to make requirement certification to the AAA.

Silva-Netto said the Rizal stadium, which can only sit 20,000 spectators, just needs to have additional working rooms for the estimated 1,000 athletes and officials from 44 countries. He added that there is also a need to purchase at least two photo finish systems because the old one still uses films, which is already obsolete in other countries. “We need the kind that is video-based to accurately decide photo-finishes,” Silva-Netto.

Silva-Netto recommended new landing pits for pole vault and high jump and repairs on the throwing cages.

Thankfully, the scoreboard, which hasn’t been functioning for more than five years now, is not a requirement during the Asian trackfest because it is just for the reference of spectators and media men.

“We don’t have to spend money fixing it,” added Silva-Netto.

Earlier, Go welcomed the proposal made by Buhain to look for other venues outside Manila to stage the trackfest in a bid to cut expenses.

Buhain said that the PSC doesn’t have the funds to refurbish the Rizal Memorial Stadium and suggested that the event be held either a the Panaad sports complex in Bacolod or at the Pampanga sports complex in San Fernando.

Go said putting off the country’s hosting of the AAA is out of the question.

“Our intention in bringing the championships here is for the good of the country and not for our own interest. We’ve spent quite an amount already just to win in our bid. We intend to make the event a very successful one as when we last held the championships,” Go said.

He called on the Filipino nation to back up the staging of the prestigious meet in Manila. Go believes the hosting of an event of such magnitude “is a testament of the indomitable Filipino spirit even during trying times.”

“Our image before Asia and the rest of the world is in dire need of a big boost. Why don’t we show them our true worth as a nation,” he pointed out.