PHILIPPINE Paralympic Committee President Mike Barredo concurred with the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) decision to withdraw its support of the 10th Asean Para Games the country is supposed to host later this year.
What is paramount, Barredo stressed, is the health and safety of everyone as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to sow havoc all over the world.
“We prepared for the Games. Our athletes devoted much of their time to prepare. But we should think of our future and the repercussions of this pandemic,” Barredo told the BusinessMirror on Thursday.
The PSC announced on Wednesday that it will implement belt-tightening measures as the agency heeds a government directive to departments and agencies to cut cost and channel much of the public funds to the fight against the virus.
And the casualties of such measures are the PSC’s flagship programs—Philippine National Games and Batang Pinoy—and the Asean Para Games, which the sports agency is funding for P400 million.
The government, through the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, also banned all activities that involve a mass gathering of people including sports events.
“We were anticipating the decision because we are aware with situation. It’s getting difficult, and the economic repercussion of this pandemic really hurts us a lot,” Barredo said. “We know that this will eventually happen.”
Barredo said that he will immediately relay the cancellation of the country’s hosting of the Games to the Asean Para Sports Federation once he gets an official copy of the PSC’s withdrawal of support which was decided during PSC Chairman William Ramirez’s virtual meeting with his board on Tuesday.
With Malacañang imposing stiff priorities on government spending, the PSC, Ramirez said, has to tinker with its program for the rest of the year.
“We heed the call of the national government to cut expenses as we reroute majority of our resources to fighting the pandemic,” Ramirez said on Wednesday. “But we also stand by our commitment to keep supporting members of the national team.”
“It’s hard,” said Barredo, who had been frequently briefed by Ramirez on developments at the PSC. “But we are really for the safety and welfare of the athletes, and also to abide by the efforts of the government to realign funds for the needs of the public.”
Barredo said they are continuously monitoring the para athletes who are training in their respective homes.
“Chairman [Ramirez] is very supportive of the athletes. Still an all-out support. But this situation is really difficult,” he said. “I know, they [athletes] will feel it’s a lost opportunity to show the Filipino people their abilities, but they will understand that there is uncertainty.”
Barredo, a former PSC commissioner, finds the Asean Para Games’ fate this year as bleak. Vietnam will host the 31st Southeast Asian Games and 11th Asean Para Games in December next year but with the absence of a vaccine for Covid-19, the events’ future is uncertain.