ILOILO City – Is the Iloilo Sports Complex in La Paz district not good enough?
The city government plans to build a sports arena and may secure a P500-million loan from Landbank of the Philippines.
“Passi City in Iloilo province and other municipalities have sports arenas but Iloilo City does not have one. This is unfair to our city youth,” said Mayor Jose Espinosa III.
The Iloilo Sports Complex is owned and managed by the provincial government of Iloilo. Its use, however, is not exclusive to sports and other activities of the province.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) authorized the city mayor to “negotiate on behalf of the city government” a loan for the proposed sports arena.
“May Palarong Panlungsod kita para sa kabataan naton pero wala kita venue nga aton,” said Espinosa.
According to the mayor, the lack of sports facilities in the city “limits the discovery” of potential local sports stars and prevents the city from hosting big sports events.
“We owe it to our youth to give them the best sports facilities,” said Espinosa.
The city government envisions a 5,000-seater sports arena and big enough to host international sports events such as the Southeast Asian Games.
Espinosa said the sports arena is in the 2017 to 2019 Annual Development Plan of the city government and approved by the Iloilo City Local Development Council.
The proposed area for the sports arena is the La Paz public plaza, just a few blocks away from the Iloilo Sports Complex.
The Iloilo Sports Complex in Barangay Magsaysay, La Paz is a multi-use sports complex. It has an Olympic-size swimming pool, an oval running track, a football field, two volleyball courts, two basketball courts, two tennis courts and four badminton courts.
An indoor gymnasium is located 200 meters away from the main site.
A venue of sports events and occasionally of large gatherings such as concerts, the Iloilo Sports Complex’s main stadium has a seating capacity of 7,000.
“Sports development is one major aspect of our governance,” said Espinosa.
It can help make the city a drug-free community, he explained.
“If we can have sports programs for our people, especially the young, this will complement our anti-drug campaign. Be in sports, not on drugs,” he said./PN
