BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Education-Division of City Schools submitted a revised budget for the city’s hosting of the 2020 Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association (CARAA) that significantly reduced the earlier proposed budget of P15 million to at least P10 million.
The revised budget proposal was submitted by the education department to the city legislative body for possible consideration in the ongoing budget deliberations of the P2.255 billion annual budget of the city government next year to allow the agency, in coordination with concerned offices of the city, to prepare for the annual regional sports competition in the city.
Earlier, the education department requested the city government to appropriate some P15.5 million from the city’s annual budget next year to defray the expenses that will be incurred by the city in the hosting of the CARAA.
However, some city officials questioned the expenses on the perks, give away items, souvenir items for concerned education and city government officials, among others, and requested the education department to review and revise the itemized budget and reduce some of the expenses considering that the city needs the funds for its other priority projects.
Baguio City was chosen by the education department to be the host of next year’s CARAA athletic meet after Apayao, which was supposed the regional sports competition for the second year in a row, backed out as the provincial government decided to appropriate most of its funds for its upcoming 25th founding anniversary by February.
More or less 7,000 athletes and sports officials will be arriving in the city to actively participate in the different individual and team events during the duration of the regional athletic meet.
The CARAA serves as an avenue where top performing athletes in the different sports disciplines will be chosen to represent the region in the Palarong Pambansa in Davao City by April or May next year.
The city government also informed city education officials it is no longer interested to host the conduct of the CARAA in the next two years as city officials do not want the city being declared as a host by virtue of default, aside from the fact that there are priority programs, projects and activities where the present administration intends to use the available resources of the city.
Bulk of the funds from the city government will be used to prepare the different public schools where the athletes and sports officials from the eight delegations from the region will be billeted while some of the funds will be utilized by the organizers for the preparation of the different playing venues around the city for the convenience of athletes and sports officials joining the different individual and team games.
Host city governments are mandated to sponsor the welcome and closing programs for the delegations coming from the different contingents in the various parts of the region in preparation for the holding of the week-long regional sports competition.
By Dexter A. See
