From his Southeast Asian Games to-do list, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chair Butch Ramirez sees the much-awaited completion of the venues as the biggest concern.
“The venues must be finished by August,” said Ramirez during Friday’s press briefing at the PSC office inside Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. “We have to deliver. Or else, we will have problems.”
Construction of the New Clark City Sports Complex in Capas, Tarlac, where medal-rich aquatics and athletics will be played, is now in full swing.
It is also being eyed as the venue of the opening ceremony of the 30th SEA Games on Nov. 30.
Ramirez is now taking an active stance in the preparation as the proposed P7.5-billion budget for holding the Games will fall under the jurisdiction of the PSC, the government arm in sports.
“I am compelled to actively participate for the success of the SEA Games,” said Ramirez, who cochairs the Philippine organizing committee with Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.
Ramirez was also PSC chair and the country’s chef de mission when Manila hosted the 2005 SEA Games.