The cities of Sta. Rosa in Laguna, Taguig and Tagaytay will open their doors and host the final months of training of national athletes seeing action in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said he got the commitments of the mayors of these cities over the last few days.
Training for selected members of the national delegation is expected to begin in the first week of July. This will go on for the next four months.
Tolentino said during the weekly online session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association that the willingness of city officials to shoulder the expenses of the athletes’ “bubble training” is laudable.
“More than four months ito. Pinili namin kung saan puwede. That’s in the absence of a memo from the Office of the President or from the Department of Interior and Local Government. We chose the areas where the people involved have the passion to help out,” added Tolentino.
The City of Sta. Rosa, through mayor Arlene Arcillas, has agreed to take care of the training of around 50 member so the national squad, while Taguig, with the help of mayor Lino Cayetano, will assist the needs of volleyball and table tennis athletes.
As for Tagaytay City, mayor Agnes Tolentino and her staff will help out with the cycling and kickboxing athletes.a
Tolentino said the need to seek help from the local government units came into being as there are no more athletes training or staying in any of the agency’s facilities at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila and the Philsports Complex in Pasig as both are still being used as quarantine centers for COViD-19 patients.
Last week, the board members of the Philippine Sports Commission has opened the door to the idea of partnering with LGUs willing to “adopt” teams to train in their areas.
The idea got its inspiration from the successful “bubble” training of the fencing and archery teams in Ormoc and Dumaguete, respectively.
Tolentino said he is still into talks on the commitment of two more LGUs on this undertaking.