Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star) - December 29, 2014 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - It may take long but Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia is not giving up on the plan to provide the national athletes a new home.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco has been pushing for it the past few years now, and is also hopeful that things can get done under his watch.

“It’s our dream,” said Garcia on the plan to put up a new training center in Clark Field in Pampanga to house majority of the national athletes.

Garcia said the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC), which was built in  1934, is no longer suited to train and house the athletes, and is no longer as conducive as before.

“The place has become too polluted and flooding is a perennial problem now. We really need to move our athletes to a better place,” he said.

Aside from those based at the historic venue along Vito Cruz, there are national athletes quartered at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City and Teachers Camp in Baguio City.

The country’s top sports officials had hoped that the sale of the 10-hectare RMSC could provide them the P3.5 billion needed to build the new training center.

But Garcia said selling the RMSC, which has a market value of over P8 billion, is easier said than done due to the question of ownership.

The PSC chief said once they finally decide to move out, they will have to relinquish control of the RMSC to the City of Manila and then hope to get something out of it as well.

This could provide the extra funding for the construction of the new training center on property to be covered by a nominal and long-term lease contract.

Garcia said the House Committee on Youth and Sports Development is working on a bill that could provide the PSC a budget allocation of P2 billion to construct the new training center.

Helping out are Representatives Anthony del Rosario, Abraham Tolentino, Eric Olivarez, Lucy Torres, Yeng Guiao and Manny Pacquiao among others.

“The bill might take long -- more than a year sometimes. But once it is passed then the transfer becomes official,” said Garcia.

The term of the PSC chairman is co-terminus with that of the President, and Garcia will have to step down after the 2016 elections, unless he is ordered to stay.

“Once we get the go signal and the funds, then construction immediately begins. This should be finished before we step down in 2016,” he said.

“The root of the problem in transferring is the budget,” Garcia said, adding that aside from the House allocation, they are also counting on the support of the private sector.

“We already have the site. It’s just a matter of moving and transferring,” he added.

Cojuangco said he has spoken to some private individuals who are willing to help. But he said these people want to make sure that everything is in place before they throw their money in.

“We can put the name of the company in the stadium which they choose to build,” he said of the potential partnership with big-time corporations.

Salvador Andrada, one of four PSC commissioners, said the PSC can get the ball rolling by taking care of the planning, architectural design and other pre-construction requirements.

This early, Garcia has been in contact with a number of contractors. He said to speed up the construction, they would need different contractors with their own specialties.

ABRAHAM TOLENTINO BAGUIO CITY BUT GARCIA CITY OF MANILA CLARK FIELD ERIC OLIVAREZ GARCIA HOUSE COMMITTEE JOSE COJUANGCO LUCY TORRES