THE Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) is already mapping out a contingency plan due to the delay in the approval of the 2019 General Appropriations Act.
Phisgoc executive director Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara said the organizing committee is taking steps to ensure that the country’s preparation for the SEA Games hosting will not be affected by the impasse in the approval of the 2019 budget.
The Senate and House of Representatives have yet to approve the P3.757 trillion national budget for 2019. From that amount, a budget of P5 billion was allocated for the country’s hosting of the SEA Games, already less than the P7.5 billion originally set to be given to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
“We have to plan a contingency plan if the budget will be released quite late,” said Suzara. “It’s a matter of praying that our Congress will understand the need for this budget.”
Suzara said Phisgoc continues to work despite the uncertainty of when the government funds will be released, barely eight months left before the staging of the SEA Games set November 30 to December 11.
“The sooner the better. We are trying to prepare a contingency plan in case the budget will be released in June. This should not stop us if the budget is delayed. We will do our job and when the money comes, it’s a matter of implementation,” said Suzara.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
