WVRAA MEET BUDGET
Roxas City didn’t give any — Celino

BY FELIPE V. CELINO

ROXAS City — This city government did not have any contribution to the budget of the province’s delegation to the recently concluded 2011 Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet.

In a press conference yesterday, Mayor Angel Alan Celino admitted not giving any financial support to the participants after the Department of Education (DepEd) failed to specify where the appropriated amount will go.

The city government has allocated P200,000 for the biggest yearly sports competition in Region 6.

Celino said it was difficult to justify where the amount will go due to the absence of a list of items or areas “to which the expenses should be based.”

Councilor Emmanuel Billones Jr., chair of the City Council Committee on Budget and Appropriation, confirmed the availability of the funds.

Celino called a press conference to respond to the statement made by Dr. Eveleth Gamboa, Capiz schools division superintendent, over the radio last week.

Gamboa claimed that the city government did not give any assistance to athletes of the province.

“Let us stop blaming each other. We have nothing else to do but … improve our sports program for the next and future sports events,” said Celino.

The reason why Capiz only placed fourth in the overall ranking in the WVRAA Meet was said to be lack of budget and ample time for the athletes’ practice.

The athletes from the province were only given ten days — it was supposedly a month — to practice. Their budget was only P3 million.

In an earlier interview, Gamboa was saddened with the outcome of the WVRAA Meet. She said the budget was not enough to feed their delegation and for the other expenses during the competitions.

She said she even solicited a small amount from teachers to augment their meager budget.

“What happened might be a wake-up call and a learning experience for all of us,” Gamboa stressed.

“There were a lot of potential athletes from Capiz. But the problem there was the lack of financial support from the local government units,” she said in an interview over dyOW Bombo Radyo last week.

Only six town mayors gave their share — some of them gave P10,000 while others gave P5,000, Gamboa said.

Though having the potentials, players from Capiz lacked the stamina to continue competing with their contenders from the other provinces, Ronilo Tu, sports coordinator of the Department of Education, said.

During the WVRAA Meet in the previous years, Capiz has always been the perennial third placer, even dominating Negros Occidental and Iloilo provinces.

In the past two years, Capiz has landed on 4th and 5th places, respectively.

The Capiz delegation totaled to about 600 — 464 of them were athletes while the rest were coaches and chaperons./PN



   


City mulls ‘sports council’

By FELIPE CELINO

ROXAS City — In view of the “poor” performance of Capiz delegation during the recently concluded Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet, the city government is considering the creation of a sports council.

The city government is willing to finance the sports council that will look for potential athletes to be trained whole-year-round, Mayor Angel Alan Celino said.

According to Celino, the city government also plans to hold a sports summit, hoping to strengthen the sports program of this city.

“I am willing to allocate funds for the said purpose …,” the mayor said.

Jose Diaz Jr., a former Provincial Board member, earlier suggested that a sports council may upgrade the sports program of the province.

Diaz said there should one council that will solely handle the sports activities of Capiz.

The lack of proper training and budget were the main reasons why Capiz ranked fourth in the recent WVRAA Meet, he said.

Diaz said the Department of Education and the Sangguniang Kabataan are the two government agencies that should be responsible for the development of sports programs./PN









(Disclamer)
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