"The employees are the heart and soul of this anniversary celebration,” declared Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez as he addressed the employees at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum this Friday.
The PSC is donating its anniversary budget to the victims of Mt. Taal’s eruption. The celebration, simple as it seems, was filled with heartfelt gratitude and melancholic remembrances of the past 30 years of the sports agency.
In his speech, Ramirez said: “I humbly acknowledge those who have stood as chairman before me, all who steered the PSC ship in the direction that they know and believed in the hearts to be the best of the Philippine Sports. I am privileged to be in their ranks. Marami pong salamat sa inyong lahat.”
Among the 10 chairmen of the commission, Ramirez has the special perspective of different times and situations being the only PSC chief who has served the agency twice and led the country’s two overall championships at the Southeast Asian Games in 2005 and 2019 as the Chef de Mission.
Assistant Secretary Joseph Encabo of the Presidential Management Staff who served the PSC before joined his former officemates and thanked everyone for their service to the country, “I think we’re not just celebrating 30 years of public service, I think it’s more than 30 years because the sacrifices that you have rendered to the Filipino nation and to the country itself – overtime, travel, leaving behind your families, those are the additional time that you have shared to the PSC.”
Also present were PSC Commissioners Celia Kiram, Arnold Agustin, Ramon Fernandez, and Charles Raymond Maxey.
“Mabuhay po ang Philippine Sports Commission. Ipagpatuloy po natin ang pagseserbisyo ng wagas.” said Commissioner Kiram.
Commissioner Agustin said that he would like to encourage “to continue working together to achieve our goals for the Philippine sports!” adding that the construction activities to uplift the facilities of the commission will continue as the board is united in their desire to leave a lasting, practical legacy to the Filipino athletes and people.
The grant of loyalty award is “pursuant to Civil Service Commission (CSC) Resolution No. 02-0295. These policies were formulated to recognize the continuous and satisfactory service rendered in the government by officials and employees for a period of 10 years.”
“If we are all united and we work hand-in-hand, we can never go wrong,” said Commissioner Maxey during his speech, recalling his days as a media man visiting the Commission to cover.
Basketball legend and PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez could not let go of the chance to share that he was only 16 years old when he first set foot in the historic RMC as an athlete. He underscored the importance of sports in the lives of people explaining that “Hindi lang ito sports. Ang importante, we make a difference in our jobs. So let’s work together and hopefully magpatuloy ‘yung swerte, at magkaroon tayo ng Olympic gold this year.”