Senator minority leader Franklin Drilon questioned how the government would maintain the newly-built Clark Sports Complex in Tarlac after the Southeast Asian Games (SEA).
Last Thursday, Drilon questioned the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) during their budget hearing on how they would get money to prevent Clark Sports Complex from facing the same fate with other world-class stadiums built by other countries and now deteriorating.
Drilon said that he wanted to see if the government has a ‘clear’ plan on how they would bring back the money they used to build the said infrastructure or even just maintain it yearly.
According to Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is planning to make the sports complex rentable so they could get some funds to maintain it.
They’re also planning to make Clark Sports complex as the national training center of the country.
However, Senator Drilon is not convinced that many people are interested in renting the facilities of the Clark Sports Complex.
“Who would want to rent an athletic stadium?” Drilon said.
Go said that the Complex could be used to hold concerts and events which is not related to sports.
However, Drilon still expressed concerns over the funds needed to maintain the complex.
“I think this has not been thought out because this will be a burden on the budget, I’m sorry…I cannot believe that we can generate enough funds to maintain this and what will happen because of a lack of funds to maintain? These facilities will deteriorate over time, so we have sunk in 9.5 billion for this activity,” he said.
He then mentioned several countries built a stadium for a big sports event, but now being neglected because of a lack of budget to maintain it.
“The BCDA could have learned from these experiences come out with a plan in order that these facilities do not go to waste,” Drilon said.
The government spent P9.5-B to build the Clark Sports complex and it would be used as the venue for the Southeast Asian Games (SEA).
According to some reports, the government needs 150-200-M pesos yearly to maintain it.