TAGUM CITY — The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will remain at the helm of the country’s preparation of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez is set to preside an inter-agency meeting next week to shift preparations for the prestigious biennial meet set from 30 November to 10 December to a higher gear.

Ramirez is acting based on the Memorandum Circular No. 56 that instructs all government agencies and owned and controlled corporations to render full support to the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc).

The PSC is the government’s funding arm for sports and is mandated to manage and disburse fund to the athletes and national sports associations in various international competitions, including the SEA Games, Asian Games and Olympics.

The bicameral committee is expected to lodge the P7.5-billion SEA Games fund to the PSC after Foreign Affairs Sec. Teodoro Locsin made clear his agency, which used to be managed by Phisgoc chief Alan Peter Cayetano, will not receive the budget as it does not possess a mandate to organize an international sports meet.

With that, Ramirez is taking the responsibility of leading the country’s SEA Games preparation by calling for a coordination meeting among various government agencies to get the ball rolling.

Among the crucial details they will be discussing in the inter-government agency coordination meeting next week are concerns on security, waste management, traffic management, health security measures and budget.

“Being the government’s sports agency, we are expected to take lead in coordinating with other government agencies being referred to in the circular,” said Ramirez at the sidelines of the 2019 Batang Pinoy Mindanao leg Tuesday at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex here.

Ramirez said they already kicked off the initiative of reaching out to various government agencies even before Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea issued the memorandum circular last week.

But now that there’s already a solid mandate from President Rodrigo Duterte, the entire workforce of the PSC will finally go full blast to make the country’s SEA Games hosting a success.

“The PSC staff had already been working with Phisgoc on certain matters, especially since the responsibility of managing the budget fell on our lap,” said Ramirez, who had already instructed the PSC staff to meet various NSAs and Phisgoc executives to discuss their equipment and funding requirements.

This will be the country’s fourth hosting of the Games. But unlike its previous hosting in 2005, Phisgoc programmed a total of 56 sports, making it the biggest and most expensive edition ever.

But Ramirez, who was also at the helm when the country hosted