CLARK FREEPORT – The Bases Conversion and Development Authority is seeking an additional P229 million to kickstart the establishment of the National Academy of Sports at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
BCDA president-CEO Vince Dizon made the request during Monday’s Senate hearing on his agency’s proposed P5.795-billion budget for 2021.
“Hindi po isinama ng DBM [Department of Budget and Management] sa National Expenditure Program ang budget for the National Sports Academy kasi hindi pa yata po napirmahan that time nung pine-prepare po [yung budget],” Dizon explained.
President Duterte signed last June 10 Republic Act No. 11470 or the National Academy of Sports Act, which seeks to boost the development of sports in the country and to develop world-class Filipino athletes.
RA 11470 mandates the National Sports Academy tointegrate high school education with a special curriculum on sports to help young Filipino athletes study while training.
“We are actually requesting for some funding based on the newly passed law,” Dizon clarified, adding that a similar request has been presented to the House of Representatives.
He said the P229 million funding would be used for Phase 1 of the NAS’s development “based on the requirements of the Department of Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.”
Under the law, the incumbent education secretary will be the chairperson of the NAS board of trustees with an executive director, to be appointed by the DepEd secretary and preferably one from the field of sports, to be responsible for the academy’s administration and operation.
“On going pa po yung master planning ngayon. We are waiting for the new executive director as well as the board of trustees,” Dizon said when requested by Senate finance committee chairperson Sonny Angara to submit a roadmap for the establishment of the academy.
The NAS is slated to open in 2022 according to Dizon. With media reports
