INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines ? Five million pesos a month is what it would take for the Philippine Sports Commission to execute ?drastic plans'' to scour raw talents from the provinces.

PSC chair Harry Angping said Wednesday the agency is willing to spend that much for as many as 1,000 young athletes who will be culled from all over the country.

The PSC boss, however, wasn't able to discuss the details of his plan and how to undertake the program.

?That's the only way to recruit, develop and train raw talents to make them future national athletes,'' Angping said.

The PSC is co-lead agency in the Palarong Pambansa, but its brain-child Batang Pinoy and Mindanao Friendship Games have been mothballed the past few years.

?We have to make drastic moves if we want to win our first Olympic gold,'' he added. ?Maybe we do not have to wait that long.?

The program, according to Angping, won't be confined to official Olympic disciplines, but all sports.

The PSC is mandated to take care of the grassroots development and often works in tandem with the Department of Education and the Department of Interior and Local Government.