08 February 2011

Panaad capacity to double

By Joaquin Henson (The Philippine Star) MANILA, Philippines - A P200 million budget is being proposed to double the viewing capacity of the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) chairman Monico Puentevella said yesterday a big source of funds will be assured if only PAGCOR remits five percent of its gross income to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) as mandated by R. A. 6847.

Panaad is the venue for the national football team’s match against Mongolia in the opener of their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup qualifying home-and-away series tonight.

Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano Araneta Jr., who arrived in Bacolod City from Manila the other night, said 18,200 tickets were printed for the match with this distribution – 10,000 general admission free to the public, 2,000 grandstand section free to the public, 2,200 reserved seats for VIPs and 4,000 for sale at P300 each. Araneta said the tickets were “allocated properly.”

To meet the AFC’s lighting requirements, an additional 300 lux was installed at Panaad last Thursday. The fixtures came from the Paglaum Stadium nearby and brought Panaad’s lighting capacity to 800 lux which was the level for the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup matches in Vietnam last year. PSC chairman Richie Garcia arranged the transfer of the lights to Panaad after receiving the go-signal from Department of Education secretary Br. Armin Luistro. The PSC purchased the lights for Paglaum which is owned by the Department of Education. Panaad is owned by the Negros Occidental provincial government.

Panaad was built in 1998 during the term of Gov. Lito Coscolluela to host the Centennial Palaro. Puentevella was then a PSC commissioner. Now, it’s ready for a refurbishing.

Puentevella said the budget to boost Panaad’s capacity could be easily raised if FIFA, generous Middle East countries, the national government and a corporate sponsor like PLDT contribute to the fund.

PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan went to Panaad two weeks ago on Puentevella’s invitation. Pangilinan was in Bacolod to witness Game 1 of the recent PBA Philippine Cup finals between Talk ‘N’ Text and San Miguel Beer.

“It’s a national effort,” said Puentevella. “PLDT will sit down with Gov. (Alfredo) Maranon’s staff to discuss coordination points. If only PAGCOR remits what it is supposed to by law to the PSC, there shouldn’t be a problem raising the funds.”

Puentevella said the PSC Act of 1990 mandates PAGCOR to remit five percent of its gross income to the PSC but during President Ramos’ administration, the contribution was slashed in half. The remittance never went back to the original five percent during the terms of Presidents Estrada and Arroyo.

“In fairness, President Ramos made up for the cut-back by providing funds over and above the five percent when the national government was asked to support our international competitions,” said Puentevella. “If PAGCOR follows the law, the PSC should be getting about P1.2 billion a year instead of only P600 million. With what it’s supposed to get, the PSC could easily allocate about P100 million to refurbish Panaad. If countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar can build national football stadiums up to AFC standards, why can’t we?”

Puentevella said Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri is batting for Panaad’s upgrade.

“The idea is not to build from scratch,” said Puentevella. “Let’s look at the available stadiums. We’ve checked out the Rizal Memorial, University of Makati, PhilSports, Iloilo and Cebu and none can compare with Panaad which has the potential to increase viewing capacity to 32,000. Panaad also has adequate lighting and parking space.”

Puentevella said Panaad now has a seating capacity of close to 16,000. A P200 million budget could build another roofed grandstand on the opposite side of the field and seats behind the two goals to increase the capacity to 32,000.

According to Zubiri, FIFA has 10 prerequisites for a stadium to be considered for international matches – pre-construction decisions such as location, field orientation and multi-purpose facilities, safety, parking, playing area, players and match officials – dressing rooms, media rooms, showers, spectators, hospitality, media, lighting and power supply and communication and additional areas.

The Philippines failed to get a go-signal from the AFF to host a Suzuki Cup semifinal game last year because no venue could meet international standards.

“Let’s hope we never get embarrassed again,” said Puentevella. “The Negros Occidental chapter of the United Architects Association of the Philippines has made an initial survey and came up with a P200 million budget to refurbish Panaad.”

Zubiri is expected to attend the Azkals’ game tonight.

“I just could not believe that a country like ours has no accredited facility to host an international football game,” said Zubiri in a recent privilege speech at the Senate. “It seems that we are so predisposed to the fact that our football teams cannot win and therefore, we need not prepare our stadiums for championships. That’s a shame as our smaller neighbors like Cambodia and Laos have accredited facilities and we do not have any.”

14 comments:

  1. They bought the lights from Paglaum stadium?!?!
    Why did they not buy brand new lights?!?!

    But I like the idea that the national football team's home will be relocated to a region where football is appreciated more.

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  2. Puentevella is so biased to (Panaad)Bacolod City. Why didn't he include the coliseum in the nearby province of Negros Oriental (Perdices Coliseum), its maybe the stiffest contender with regards to capacity and condition is concern with its finally done.

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  3. ^ Yes Ive been there in Dumaguete City, Neg Or. and there Coliseum is way bigger than Panaad Stadium when its done with its construction.

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  4. panaad and the azkals have some shared history, it didn't happen overnight. eversince the term "azkals" was coined, panaad have always been the azkals' homefield.

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  5. upgrades are nice, but i would hope it won't mean that the panaad becomes the permanent home of the national team.

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  6. Our Stadium in Tubod, Lanao del Norte is as good as Panaad Mr. Puentevella. Masyado kang biased.

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  7. Since 2006-SEA Games, Panaad Stadium had been the host for the Footbool Games here in the Philippines.Panaad has been choosen to be the venue for the Philippines vs. Mongolia game simply because it is a qualified stadium(as what the article above noted).
    And also one of the reasons why it was choosen its because of security..security of the place..Ever since I was born(1989) there was no any threat in the our city.

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  8. migo, ano na-mean mo "had been the host for the Footbool(sic) Games here in the Philippines..."? Nalimtan mo ang ginhiwat sa Iloilo Sports Complex kag ang sa Barotac??

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  9. Panaad will be the home for the azkals because negros is the home of football in the philippines. If your stadiums are good enough to host the league then it is the venue of all the football games. Why panaad was chosen? simply because we had better place, people, space and security. In iloilo there are stadiums though the roads were so narrow it is a threat for security. People we are dealing with the Country's reputation here. Negros especially Bacolod is the safest city in the Philippines frankly Speaking.

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  10. Panaad Stadium has the right to avail the opportunity to be renovated into a large capacity stadium. We had a nice weather here so there is no problem to maintain the turf in order to have a quality game. Unlike the other stadiums scanty areas of grass grows in specific part of the pitch which the appearance and the quality of game in general is affected. in this stadium (Panaad) only small renovation is required. Last year fifa U-15 was held in the panaad stadium so it means that the stadium is somehow has the standards.

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  11. maraming inggit sa bacolod city kasi ang bacolod ang ginawang homefield ng azkals..kunting renovation na lang ay qualified na na gawing international football field ang panaad.dapat masaya tayong mga pilipino huwag mag away2x..hehe eversince dito sa bacolod ginanap ang seagames and other international games..kaunting budget na lang ang kailangan sa pag rerenovate ng stadium.if gagawa pa tayo ng ibang stadium it cost too much money..go panaad go bacolod!fly high philippines!!!

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  12. anung biased dun,nasa position pba si monico?.if biased di sana pinigilan na ni bing leonardia...??? at qualified b ang stadium nyo pra dun iheld ang game ng azkals or other football games???safe ba ang place??security?...maliit lng ang capacity nmin dito pero bkit wla bang renovation??d ba pwede ireconstruct???

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  13. hindi ibig sabihin na may football stadium ay pang international standard na...maraming factors ang kinoconsider bago matawag na international standard ang isang facility katulad ng panaad stadium sa bacolod. Ito ay ang mga sumusunod: size and condition ng field including drainage (hindi kasi porke may field ay pwede na...kailangan yung hindi pwedeng mabaha kapag umulan..sa ilalim kasi ng isang international standard football field ay may series of layered foam na inilalagay to serve that purpose), lightings, security, seating capacity, media center, locker/shower rooms, availability ng medical/emergency services and equipment, accessibility ng place at marami pang iba...sa bacolod kasi, sa totoo lang dalawa ang international standard stadium doon. Ang paglaum stadium na kasing edad na ng rizal memorial at nangangailangan na din ng renovation at ang pinakasikat na ngayon na panaad stadium. Ang dalawang stadium ay parehong naghost ng men's football events noong 2005 patunay na parehong nakapasa ang dalawa sa international standard kaya lang as of this moment ay pang ASEAN lamang dahil nga sa seating capacity problem. Hopefully masosolusyunan ito kaagad especially na malaki ang potential ng dalawang stadium to increase in size and become trully world class.

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  14. yeah that's right. marami lng inggit sa BACOLOD .even here in manila..CAN'T even consider na Rizal is Good as there in PANAAAD .dto bagal ng flow ng traffc dahl wlang adequate na spaces .not havng even class "B" na rooms such as shower and dressng room .ung sa media puru canopy lg eh.
    sa iloilo napaka outdated nmn ng style likewise wth what cebu and other places in mindanao have ..Mas MAGANDA PA ung PAGLAUM STADiUM ng BACOLOD' pg un na renovate for sure it'll be the best na dn.pro sa ngaun they focused more on PANAAD .

    peace out! this is really very true . :)

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