RP National athletics open shifts to Pangasinan

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (PATAFA) has moved the National Open Championships in the province of Pangasinan with Lingayen and Dagupan City co-hosting the event from May 11 to 14. The Philippine national team and national training pool will the country’s charge in the three-day event, which also attracted local athletes from various provinces. PATAFA has also invited foreign teams from Russia, Kazakhstan, Chinese-Taipei, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong. The 2009 Milo National Invitational Track and Field Open Championships will be held at the Narciso Ramos Sports Complex in the town of Lingayen, which is the same venue used during the 1995 Palarong Pambansa (National Games). This will be the first time that the National Open will be held outside of Manila. Past competitions were held at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. PATAFA president Go Teng Kok and Dagupan City Mayor and former Bureau of Immigration commissioner Alipio Fernandez announced Pangasinan’s hosting during Tuesday’s press conference held at the Ambassador Hotel in Manila. “In behalf of Gov. Amado Espino, we assure you that event will be successful," said Pangasinan provincial administrator Raffy Baraan, who represented Espino. Baraan said the Narciso Ramos Sports Complex is undergoing rehabilitation and renovation for the last two months in preparation for the event. “The Narciso Ramos Sports Complex is undergoing repair for the last two months and will be ready by next month. We allotted P25 million for the repair and rehabilitation with PAGCOR’s help." “We are quite excited in hosting this event because this will make Pangasinan the seat of sports activities in the north," said Fernandez, who is also the PATAFA chairman. Meanwhile, the National Open according to Go will served as final tune-up for the National athletics team that will compete in the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos in December. “We already formed our national team and right now we have 22 athletes in the team. And this national open will serve as their final tune-up," said Go who’s targeting at least eight to 10 gold medals for his squad in the coming biennial games in Vientianne. – GMANews.TV