City Council approves PNG hosting

DESPITE the countless debates, the City Council nonetheless approved a resolution for the city to bid the hosting of the Philippine National Games next year.

Passed on second reading, the council took almost an hour to debate on whether to bid for the sporting event or not, as some councilors posed their doubts on the capability of the Summer Capital to host the event due to the lack of sports facilities.

However, proponent Councilor Elmer Datuin said the bid is just among some of the steps the city has to make if in case it wants to host the national games which attracts almost thousands of school athletes from all over the country.

“The bid is just some of the steps and a committee coming from the PSC will evaluate if the city can host the event,” added Datuin during their regular session Monday.

Some P200 million is expected to be given to the city for the hosting once the Philippine Sports Commission has approved the Summer Capital’s bid and this will be used to help in the improvement of the city’s sports facilities.

Hosting the national games, according to the resolution, aims to take the momentum of the Baguio squad of their success and for the Baguio residents to witness their excellence.

Datuin said in his resolution Baguio City is already known by world-class athletes as a high altitude training area and conducting national games in the city will further provide an added attraction.

Datuin’s resolution stemmed from the over-all performance of the Summer Capital after scoring 68 gold medals, including 66 silver and 76 bronze and added the conduct of the national games may also be done in partnership with the province of Benguet and La Union as venues of some sports disciplines.

The councilor also added if the national games will happen in the Summer Capital, it will be a perfect time to instill sports and health consciousness to the constituents of the city and its neighboring areas.

“This will also be an opportune time to promote the tourism industry since participants are coming from the different regions of the country,” continued Datuin. (Roderick Osis)

Published in the Sun.Star Baguio newspaper on August 17, 2011.