INQUIRER Sports

TRACK and field athletes will no longer train and stay in facilities controlled by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Under a preliminary agreement between the Philippine Olympic Committee and Makati City, the national athletics bets will be calling the Makati Stadium their home.

Athletics chief Go Teng Kok yesterday confirmed talks between POC president Jose ?Peping? Cojuangco Jr. and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who also vowed to help prepare the athletes for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

A memorandum of agreement between the POC and the Makati city government is expected to be signed this month, according to Go.

?He (Binay) wants to absorb all my athletes and house them in the stadium,? said Go. ?We will also look for other sponsors to help us maintain the needs of the athletes.

?We don?t expect any financial support from the PSC this year, so we might as well be independent.?

The government sports agency has been going after the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association for unliquidated advances since the time of PSC chair William ?Butch? Ramirez, who was replaced by former Manila congressman Harry Angping early last year.

The PSC takes care of the allowances of the tracksters and their coaches.

The athletics team, which captured seven gold medals, three silvers and four bronzes in the Laos SEA Games, and the training pool used to train at the PSC-run Teacher?s Camp in Baguio City and the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.