THE Philippine Sports Commission is reaching out to former Muslim rebels in an effort to get them involved in grassroots sports.
That’s the reason why PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez visited a camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Pigkawayan, North Cotabato last week.
“Special attention to the MILF youth, so we are trying to finalize our PSC-MILF sports program,” said Ramirez.
In his talks with the leaders of the camp, Ramirez discussed plans of having a consistent program.
They also discussed the possibility of having the youth members of the MILF take part in the next staging of the Philippine National Games and the Batang Pinoy.
The discussions were taken into consideration by MILF vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar, according to Ramirez.
This time around, the staging of the Philippine National Games and the Batang Pinoy national games won’t be annual event as sports officials are thinking of holding the regional eliminations of the multi-sport competitions once every two years.
Stretching the competitions to a two-year period will help the LGUs plan out their grassroots programs and the participating in national meets.
Ramirez said he plans to visit other camps of the MILF, and seek their involvement.
“May kasunod pa ito,” he added.