THE Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan could serve as the main venue of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Talks are shaping up over the role that will be given to the facilities put up by the church of Iglesia ni Cristo in Ciudad Victoria back in 2014.
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said this has been mentioned in ongoing talks with Foreign Affairs Secretary Allan Peter Cayetano, who is the Chairman of the 2019 SEA Games Organizing Committee.
“There are discussions. There’s a very strong possibility that we will have the Philippine Arena for the opening games,” said Ramirez.
From there, the other venues of the Games’ events can be spread out to Subic Bay, Olongapo, Clark Field in Pampanga in Manila.
The PSC is preparing plans to have renovations and repairs done on facilities inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and those that are under the care of the Philippine Sports Commission.
Around P2 billion will be needed for the initial cost.
PSC officals said this is the ballpark figure that they have come up in order to push through with the makeovers on the sports facilities in the last quarter of the year.
“We are prioritizing the venues that the athletes will need for their training,” PSC Executive Director Sannah Privaldo.
The PSC has taken this budget up before Senate president Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr. and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in a series of meetings over the past weeks.
