Questions on post-SEA Games upkeep cause Senate to recall nod on BCDA budget

The Senate on Thursday recalled the approval of the P15.496-billion proposed budget of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) after senators failed to get satisfactory answers on how the sports facilities built for the Southeast Asian Games will be maintained after the competitions in December.

The budget of BCDA was approved without any questions from the senators earlier in the day.

However, during the deliberations on the proposed budget of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Minority Leader Franklin Drilon asked what the government’s plans were as regards the facilities after the SEA Games.

“What will we do with these facilities after the games? I have seen a few sites of athletic events all over the world. I have seen the Olympic stadium in a number of countries which today are just monuments of non-use and these are assets which are in effect just in books. Is there a plan on what to do with this?” Drilon said.

The government spent P9.5 billion for the construction of new facilities including the New Clark City in Tarlac and skateboarding and cycling facilities in Tagaytay.

Senator Christopher ‘Bong’ Go, finance committee vice-chairman and sponsor of the PSC budget, said the facilities would be opened to various local and international tournament, as well as commercial and collegiate leagues like the University Athletic Association of the Philippines  and  National Collegiate Athletic Association.

“Hosting these tournaments after the SEA games can draw additional revenue for PSC to be used for improving the living condition of the athletes such as nutrition, dormitories, and allowance,” Go said.

As for the facilities in the New Clark City, Go said portions of it will be used by the proposed Philippine High School for Sports.

“These facilities can be used to provide our student athletes world class training and eventually help the country return to the top of sports,” Go said.

Drilon then asked about the maintenance expenses for the new facilities and how the government planned to fund them.

BCDA chief Vince Dizon, speaking through Go, said the maintenance cost ranges from P150 million to P200 milion a year, as computed by the Asian Development Bank.

The BCDA is planning to bid out the facilities to private developers to generate revenue for the government.

Drilon said the plan seemed very broad and general and he expressed belief that there was really no detailed plan as to how to generate the revenue. Go said there was and that Dizon would present it to Drilon.

Drilon again asked who would be interested to rent the track and field facility to which Go replied the BCDA could not divulge the information yet.

“I think this has not been thought out, it can be a burden to the budget with the maintenance cost. I believe we cannot generate enough funds to maintain this and because of the lack of funds, these facilities with deteriorate overtime,” Drilon said.

Quoting Dizon, Go said the construction of the facility was studied by the ADB.

“The BCDA president can approach you to explain the interest of the private sector and how can we sustain the operation of these facilities.  If I may add, he is willing to leave his resignation letter pag pumalpak siya dito, sabi ko sa kanya,” Go said.

Drilon said BCDA could learn from the experience of other countries whose sports facilities deteriorated after they hosted the event such as  the Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Sarajevo in Bosnia, Athens in Greece, Beijing in China, and even Pyongyang in North Korea.

He then asked why BCDA was involved in the SEA Games facility.

Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said it was because the location in Tarlac is under BCDA.

It was at this point that Go asked why BCDA was approved without any question.

He asked if the approval can be recalled so that the sponsor of the BCDA budget, finance committee chairman Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, could better answer the question.

Angara was not in the plenary when the PSC budget was presented.

Drilon expressed regret that he was not able to raise the question with earlier because he did not know that it was BCDA that owns the facilities.

“The valid question is what do we intend to do with these facilities after we host the SEA Games. We are talking here about the budget and it is only natural that these queries be made," Drilon said.

"This is not the fault of the sponsor. It would appear to me that we built this because the money is available,  bahala na si Batman pagkatapos,” he added.

He agreed with the suggestion of Go that the BCDA budget be recalled.

“As suggested by Senator Go, these are matters that can be better answered by the sponsor of BCDA budget. May we request that the budget of BCDA be recalled for discussion on Monday,” Drilon said.

Other senators initially said that they could just suspend the rules that only a senator who sponsored the budget could speak before the plenary so that Dizon could directly answer the questions.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Drilon was the first to make a motion so they should resolve it first.

The plenary agreed with Drilon and recalled the BCDA budget. —NB, GMA News