William “Butch” Ramirez.
Former Philippine Sports Commission chair William “Butch’’ Ramirez is back to continue his legacy in the government sports agency.
Ramirez, who sat as PSC chair from 2005 to 2009, confirmed Wednesday that he has accepted the offer of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to lead the country’s sports development programs.
As the comebacking chair of the sports-funding commission, Ramirez vowed to revive the institute of sports and expand the regional training centers in the provinces, projects discontinued by his successors after he stepped down seven years ago.
“There’s an instruction from the President that we have to go to the provinces and the communities to identify more talents,’’ said Ramirez, who is set to take over the chores of outgoing chair Richie Garcia on July 1.
He will meet with Garcia at the PSC administration office on June 28 to discuss the transition as instructed by incoming Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
According to Ramirez, Presidential special assistant Christopher “Bong’’ Go would formally announce the rest of the PSC board members prior to Duterte’s oath-taking on June 30 with basketball legend Ramon Fernandez as one of the commissioners.
“We will visit the PSC on Tuesday so we can discuss important matters like the Olympics and the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, and at the same time set the new direction of the new administration,’’ said Ramirez.
During his term, Ramirez was the chief architect of the country’s first overall title in the Southeast Asian Games in 2005 Manila and was also credited for the impressive output of four gold medals by the national athletes in the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
He served as the Philippine chef de mission on both tournaments. Ramirez is the only two-time chair of the agency since the PSC was created in 1990.
“I’m not going to the (Rio de Janeiro) Olympics. I’ll focus on the SEA Games preparation apart from the institute of sports and regional training centers,’’ said Ramirez.
He initially begged off from regaining his post due to the administrative cases filed against him after his term.
“But sports is the closest thing to my heart. I’ll face these charges because it’s part of the democratic process,’’ said Ramirez. “But it will not stop us from achieving our goals in sports.”