BY CARLA GOMEZ
The Panaad Park and Sports Stadium in Bacolod City is all set for Wednesday’s football match between the Philippine and Mongolian teams, but the two floodlight panels needed for the night encounter will be held up by cranes since there is not enough time to mount them on permanent structures, Philippine Sport Commission chairman Ricardo “Richie” Garcia said yesterday.
Garcia said the transfer of two sets of floodlight panels from the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City to the provincial government owned-Panaad Sports Stadium for Wednesday’s game will cost P2 million. Each panel has 22 floodlights.
The P2 million, however, does not cover the permanent structures needed to mount the lights when the game is over, that will be up to the Negros Occidental provincial government to do that, Garcia said.
They are hoping the contractor tasked with transferring the floodlight will lower the P2 million it is charging, Garcia said.
He said Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. plans to also transfer the two other floodlight panels still at the Paglaum to the Panaad later.
The Panaad shower rooms were also upgraded to both shower rooms and dressing rooms with airconditioners, carabao grass and two lawnmowers have been purchased to improve the grounds at the stadium, and the VIP lounge has been renovated and painted, as well as the comfort rooms, Ian de Ramos, Panaad park administrator, said.
He said P290,000 was allocated by the Philippine Football Federation for all these renovations and the amount has not totally been used up.
Garcia said the funds for the preparations at the Stadium have been advanced by the Philippine Sports Commission that has asked for a P6 million allocation from the Office of the President for Wednesday’s match.
Her said the request for the P 6 million has not been approved yet and he does not know if it will come from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp or the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.*CPG
Visayan Daily Star
They have known all about this since December. They have had all the time in the world to prepare and all they could come up with after all this time and at the last minute is a crane with lights. What a pathetic excuse our elected officials are? No wonder no one wants to invest in the Philippines. From government officials, sports officials, city and provincial officials, how exactly do you plan to run things if you can't even accomplish a simple thing like this after 2 months of talking about it. The Azkals is a shining example of Philippine pride. Our officials behind the scenes on the other serves as an example of Philippine shame.
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