Delegates see new hope in Sports Summit

DAVAO CITY- Delegates in the first Mindanao Sports Summit which started Monday were optimistic that a concrete plan of action will materialize in promoting the development of sports and physical fitness in the region.

"We have been waiting for this summit for a long time. It is a positive step in charting the direction of sports in Mindanao," Davao City Councilor Cornelio Reta, the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines regional president, said.

In his keynote speech, chairman Carlos Tuason of the Philippine Sports Commission said "this summit links the sporting agenda of Mindanao to the overall thrusts of the national government under the administration of Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."

"The summit has re-positioned the island of Mindanao as a reservoir of talent... We are sure there are other Sulaimans, Jaitullas and Lerios out there waiting to be discovered," added Tuason.

Gracing the opening rites were Lanao del Norte Gov. Imelda Dimaporo, Davao City Mayor Benjamin de Guzman and PSC commissioners Richie Garcia, Amparo "Weena" Lim and William Ramirez, a native of Davao City. Local Government Secretary Joey Lina was represented by Sandy Paredes, executive director of the Union of Local Government Authorities in the Philippines.

Ramirez, the moving spirit behind the staging of the two-day consultations, was hopeful the summit would be the springboard for the creation of a Mindanao Sports Institute.

"One of the goals that I hope this summit will achieve is the formation of a Mindanao Sports Institute that will be the training ground of all sports potential in the region," Ramirez said.

"They will no longer have to go to Manila to train but we will have one strategically located center here where we can develop standouts for the national pool," Ramirez added.

"More local government officials should be involved in these undertakings. They should make sports among their top priorities," said Dimaporo who is here also to pitch for the hosting of the national Palarong Pambansa finally in her province.

For her part, Paredes said Secretary Lina lauded the efforts of Mindanao leaders in coming together to come up with a sports vision for the region and that to help them along, one of Lina’s first directives was to restore the 20 percent allotment of the national government for sports development back to the control of local government officials.