Loyzaga quits PSC to take care of ailing Caloy

COMMISSIONER Joaquin “Chito” Loyzaga of the Philippine Sports Commission stepped down yesterday to take care of his ailing father, basketball great Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga, in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Loyzaga’s letter of irrevocable resignation was sent to President Aquino a day after he left Sunday to help his mother attend to the needs of the 82-year-old patriarch, who has not fully recovered from a major stroke last year.

Other than personal reasons, Loyzaga was said to be at odds with fellow officials at the PSC over policies, specifically the program for priority sports and regional training centers.

A source close to the former Barangay Ginebra star said he was unhappy that the PSC veered away from the original plan of sending 450 retired national athletes to the grassroots to impart their technical expertise as coaches.

Instead, the program was shelved with its P100-million budget diverted to boost the funding for national sports associations not in the list of the PSC’s 10 priority sports.

After the country’s sixth-place finish in the Southeast Asian Games last year, the President ordered the PSC to identify 10 priority sports.

These are boxing, taekwondo, athletics, swimming, wushu, archery, wrestling, bowling, weightlifting, and billiards.

Officials of secondary sports outside of this special group had called for a review and threatened to rally against the agency, forcing PSC chair Richie Garcia to defer the implementation of the scheme.