BCDA requests P229M for development of Nat’l Academy of Sports in New Clark City

from BCDA video

Around P229 million would be needed to kickstart the construction of the National Academy of Sports at the New Clark City Sports Complex in Tarlac, the Bases Conversion Development Authority said on Monday.

BCDA chief Vince Dizon made the request to lawmakers during the Senate hearing on the agency’s proposed P5.795-billion budget for next year.

“Hindi po isinama ng DBM (Department of Budget and Management) sa NEP (national expenditure program) ang budget for the national sports academy dahil hindi pa po yata siya [bill] napirmahan at that time noong prinepare po [ang budget],” Dizon said.

“We are actually requesting some funding for the newly passed law,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte in June signed the law creating the National Academy of Sports last June.

Under the new law, a national sports program shall be crafted and a secondary educational system within the said framework shall be institutionalized to develop the athletic skills of students and train them in world-class sports facilities.

The P229 million requested budget would be used for Phase 1 of the academy’s development “based on the requirements of the Department of Education and Philippine Sports Commission,” Dizon said.

He added that the two agencies target to open the sports academy in 2022 and that the crafting of the master development plan is ongoing.

Senate finance committee chairperson Sonny Angara requested the BCDA to submit a roadmap for the said project.

Angara said the senators will try their best to augment BDCA’s budget.  —KBK, GMA News

This article BCDA requests P229M for development of Nat’l Academy of Sports in New Clark City was originally published in GMA News Online.