PSC faces big cut in ’02 budget

The Philippine Sports Commission will be forced to do more with less if it fails to convince Congress to give the government sports agency a bigger budget allocation for next year.

This surfaced yesterday after Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin told the House Committee on Budget that her deparment could allocate no more than P107 million for the PSC for the year 2002 under the General Appropriations Act.

Boncodin, however, said her department would help the PSC find other sources to offset the shortfall. First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo had also promised to help the PSC get additional funding through the private sector.

Boncodin’s proposed budget for the PSC next year is way off the original request of P249 million by the 11-year-old commission. It would also be a big slide from the PSC budget of P119 million this year.

"We have to make an appeal to the budget department and the congressmen about the predicament we’re in," said PSC chairman Carlos Tuason, since the budget proposed by Boncodin will still have to be reviewed by Congress.

Bacolod Congressman Monico Puentevella, who served as PSC commissioner for six years, will play a key role in trying to convince his fellow congressmen regarding the PSC’s urgent need for a bigger budget.

Puentevella resigned in November of 2000 after Congress slashed the PSC budget from P152 million to P119 million. As head of the PSC grassroots development program, he felt that he could not perform his duties with such a meager budget.

The General Appropriations budget given to the PSC covers the repair, maintenance and construction of sports facilities, and the salaries of PSC officials and its more than 400 employees.

The rest of the PSC budget comes from the National Sports Development Fund, which represents the monthly contributions of Pagcor. The NSDF takes care of needs of the different National Sports Association, salaries of local and foreign coaches, and the allowances of the close to 800 national athletes.