(Eagle News) — It’s official.
The Philippines will be hosting the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, and sports officials are planning to use existing sports facilities in the country such as the Philippine Arena for the staging of the various sports events.
In a report by the Inquirer, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chair Richie Garcia was quoted as saying that existing facilities would be used in the Manila SEA Games, including the 55,000-seater Philippine Arena and the 20,000-seater Philippines Sports Stadium, all housed inside the Ciudad de Victoria grounds in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“We’re going to maximize the use of existing facilities that we also used in the 2005 Games here, plus we will approach the (management of) Mall of Asia and Iglesia (Ni Cristo) for their facilities,” said Garcia. “We’ll use Subic (Freeport) for watersports,” Garcia was quoted by the Inquirer as saying.
Aside from the facilities in Ciudad de Victoria, the PSC is also eyeing the use of the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The report said that Philippine Olympic Committee first vice-president Joey Romasanta had earlier confirmed that the POC executive board had passed a resolution accepting the hosting chores for the 2019 Games.
It said the POC would communicate officially this decision to the SEA Games Federation.
PSC officials said they projected that the budget that Philippines would need to prepare for the hosting of the SEA games would not be that big, as they would not be building any large infrastructures for the major event.
But even before the SEA games hosting four years from now, the Philippine Arena and the Philippine Sports Stadium will be the site of a major international sports event of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, the Unity Games International.
This event, which is part of the centennial ender activities of the Iglesia Ni Cristo will be staged starting July 25 in Ciudad de Victoria and in 20 other sites in the country.
Athletes from here and abroad will also be part of the much-awaited sports competition which will highlight the camaraderie, brotherhood, and unity of the INC brethren.
The sports event will also be officiated by referees who participated in other international sports competitions.
The Iglesia Ni Cristo will be marking its 101st anniversary on July 27, 2015.
The Unity Games were conceived by the Church’s current Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, as the Church’s first multi-sport and multi-district activity.
The events include badminton, baseball, basketball, bowling, chess, football, tennis, swimming, table tennis, track & field, taekwondo, and volleyball. Exhibition sports in previous events have also included wrestling and weightlifting.
