NoCot guv vows support for sports dev’t, opens prov’l gym to public
SPORTS • 10:15 AM Sat Jul 20, 2019
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
Local basketball enthusiasts pose after playing inside the provincial gymnasium that North Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco opened to public use. (Photo from Prov’l governor’s office)
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco today vowed to push her sports and youth development programs by opening the North Cotabato provincial gymnasium to all sports enthusiasts.
This is after the former administration closed the facility to public use and limited its use solely to government functions.
“Opening the provincial gymnasium is my administration’s gesture of pushing for massive sports program in the province,” Catamco, a first termer governor, said in a statement.
“Anyone can use the gymnasium to play basketball and other sports activities as it is a public facility, provide you obey certain rules,” she said.
Catamco, during the campaign period for last local polls, promised to open the gymnasium to public use.
She also implemented “open door policy” for anybody to have access to her office.
Catamco is set to promote grassroots sports program like marathon in the barangays, amateur boxing programs, basketball and other sports that she thinks will not only discover new sports heroes from the province but to also divert the attention of the youth on sports and prevent the youth from engaging in illegal drugs and alcohol.
“Let’s bring back the glory days of sports in the province,” Catamco said, stressing that North Cotabato was known in sports like basketball, boxing, taekwondo and lawn tennis.
She cited the Sydney Olympic boxers Antipas, North Cotabato, Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) players Peter Jun Simon of Makilala town and Mark Belo of Midsayap, both in North Cotabato.