CLARK FREEPORT – Is it goodbye to Manila’s Rizal Memorial Stadium? Already deteriorated, the national stadium of the Philippines seems headed to the graveyard.
But there is a grander plan to establish a new one, estimated to cost P3.5 billion, in this freeport. Sportsman Pampanga 1st District Rep. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao said this move was tackled in the House Committee on Sports which he presided over recently.
“The Rizal stadium is not functioning anymore. It is hounded by traffic problems and obsolete facilities,” he told members of the Capampangans in Media, Inc. (CAMI) in a briefing here.Guiao said the establishment of a new stadium at Clark is already being considered by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the Philippine Olympics Committee (POC), the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC).
CIAC has been involved because the proposal is to locate the new stadium in a 50-hectare area within the jurisdiction of the state-agency in this freeport, he said. Whether the proposed stadium would still be named Rizal still has to be tackled.
“Also, the BCDA is offering some 50 hectares near its proposed Green City north of Clark, but within Capas, Tarlac,” Guiao said. He also said that possible funding sources for the new stadium have already been eyed, including the sale of the present Rizal Memorial Stadium which occupies 10 hectares.
“But this is a bit problematic because the family which donated the land imposed the condition that it would be used only for sports stadium,” he noted.
Guiao cited the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) as another possible funding source. “Pagcor owed PSC about P12 billion, because since the Ramos administration, it has been remitting only 2.5 percent of its earnings to PSC instead of the supposed five percent,” he said.
Guiao said that the funds could also be legislated in the national budget on a staggered basis. He expressed confidence that the Clark area would be considered for the stadium, as he noted that the offer of the local government of Tagaytay City was impractical, as land there would be much costlier and that only about 10 hectares seemed available.
“It’s almost in the bag that Clark will be the area. We’re just considering whether the site would be within the CIAC or near the proposed Green City of the BCDA,” he added.
The Rizal Memorial Stadium had served as the main stadium of the 1954 Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games on three occasions.
It was renovated in 2011, but has again deteriorated since then. The stadium is also officially the home of the Philippines national football team.
