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In line with President Marcos’ SONA topic of making sports facilities more accessible, new Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick ‘Pato’ Gregorio aims to talk to more LGUs across the country on opening up more track ovals and courts to the public
MANILA, Philippines – Mountains upon mountains of work await new Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio as he clears the first month of his new term that officially began last July 1.
With the loaded second half of the 2025 sports calendar well underway, the amiable executive is prioritizing tasks that benefit a broad spectrum, including the general public, grassroots athletes and standouts from niche sports like curling and rowing.
This comes after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave an unexpected spotlight to the growing state of Philippine sports in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) and using that growth to inspire the public to adapt healthier lifestyles.
Piggybacking on the President’s wishes in the SONA, Gregorio through the PSC and local government units (LGU) opened the track ovals of the PhilSports Complex, the Rizal Memorial Complex (RMC), and the Baguio Grandstand.
This, however, is by no means the end of the list, as Gregorio revealed in a Rappler Talk on Tuesday, August 5, that he is set to contact more LGUs to open their existing sports complexes for public use.
“That’s what we’re coordinating now in the Philippine Sports Commision. We’re identifying if we still have stadiums, track and field ovals that are still closed for exclusive use of the national athletes,” he said in Filipino.
“When we opened PhilSports, when we opened Rizal, we did that with one consideration: give more opportunities to the public, school athletes and kids who are not doing anything after school to exercise and jog. When you start with walking, jogging is next, then running. It’s a quick process.”
As he has done in previous interviews, Gregorio praised the public for their warm reception to the opening of government track ovals and revealed that joggers flocking to the RMC steadily rose from the few hundreds on the first day to more than a thousand by Wednesday, August 6.
Gregorio, however, is still putting a premium on the country’s athletes, first and foremost, especially with the 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games fast approaching at the end of the year.
“Will we open more sports facilities moving forward? Yes. We will just study especially now with the SEA Games, which only comes every two years anyway. We will look into that and that is a promise of the Philippine Sports Commission,” he continued.
“When you look into investment of sports facilities, it’s really not that expensive, especially if they are being used. You can forget about the wear and tear. On issues of wear and tear when opened to the public, even without anyone using the facilities, they will have wear and tear anyway.”
In line with his agenda of sports combined with tourism, Gregorio is looking to have conversations with LGUs in Bacolod, Zamboanga and many other provinces to open more public spaces and fulfill Marcos’ wish of a “healthy citizenry.” – Rappler.com
