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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Monday, October 2, 2017
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THE ILOILO Sports Complex has increased its fees starting Oct. 1. And before its implementation, regular users of the multi-sports facilities complex were already crying “EXORBITANT” when they learned of the new rates scheme.
Out of exasperation over the seemingly exorbitant fee increase, Rena Serion Manubag, a long distance runner and reporter for IBC TV12 who is also a regular user of the rubberized track oval of the Iloilo Sports Complex, posted this in her Facebook account: “Hindi daw masyado masakit sa bulsa ang 30 pesos na entrance fee sa Iloilo Sports Complex. Sa inyu eh, kay kwartahan kamo!”
In English, it roughly means: “You say the 30 pesos entrance fee at the Iloilo Sports Complex is not hard on the pocket, for you probably because you have a lot of money.”
The lady is indeed pissed off and rightly so, Iloilo City being on the “low end” on consumer spending. For most natives the Iloilo Sports Complex is one of the last affordable recreation facilities available for cheap thrills.
Before you all get lost in translation, let’s define “exorbitant” first, from that free online Oxford Dictionary:
Exorbitant – (of a price or amount charged) unreasonably high.
According to Dr. Jenelyn T. Fundal, chief of the Iloilo Sports Management and Development Office or ISMDO, what they did was just to implement Provincial Ordinance No. 2017- 145 of the 2017 Revised Revenue Code of Iloilo which was approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for the maintenance of the said sports facility.
And here are the new rates of the Iloilo Sports Complex which took effect yesterday, Oct. 1, 2017:
- The entrance fee of P10 remains
- An additional P20 for the use of the rubberized track oval.
- P60 for use of the swimming pool during daytime
- P70 for night time use of the swimming pool
- For students of Physical Education classes and government-sponsored activity using the swimming pool, P30 for daytime and P45 for night time use.
From the looks of these new rates, it is a 300 percent increase i.e. from a general entrance fee of P10 to P30
For the average salaried worker, paying P30 just to jog around the rubberized track oval is a bit steep. Of course, for those filthy rich people with cash to throw around, P30 is way below their concept of loose change.
And that is what Rena Serion Manubag means. If she goes to the sports complex to train as most serious runners do, then she’s there at least five times a week, which means P150 a week. Multiply that by four, so it’s P600 a month.
For the working-class serious runner, P600 is a serious amount. But for someone like, say Rommel Ynion who’s rich and awash with cash, it’s nothing, a miniscule amount way below his concept of loose change.
And that’s where the issue lies. Majority of the people who go to the Iloilo Sports Complex are working-class like Rena Serion Manubag and not filthy rich millionaires.
I’ll grant that the Iloilo Sports Complex has undergone some major facelift. The rubberized track oval was finally replaced and there is an ongoing rehabilitation of the tennis courts. But are there proper dressing rooms with toilets and showers? By that, I mean clean and working properly.
Are there also proper night lights around the track oval, basketball and volleyball courts, including the one they use for sepak takraw?
It is a known fact that the football pitch which has undergone major repair and rehabilitation is not yet certified for international standard by FIFA, football’s international governing body, because it has no proper lights for night matches.
Moi is also a regular at the Iloilo Sports Complex, usually three times a week just for physical fitness and no longer for training, as moi has long retired from competing in marathons and moi’s footballing days are over.
This means that moi now has to shell out P90 a week from the P30 a week previously before the rate increase.
Moi is not poor; moi just happens to have no money so definitely the new rates at the Iloilo Sports Complex will have an effect on moi’s cash flow albeit a minor one.
So what’s one to do if he/she can no longer afford to go to the Iloilo Sports Complex?
Well, there’s always the Esplanade. It’s free. Just be careful you don’t trip on the uneven brick surface and make sure to wear properly cushioned running shoes as those hard, uneven surface is murder to the feet.
Come to think of it, spending P30 for an injury free jog on a soft rubberized track oval, clean air and no potential threat from a drug-crazed mugger is more than worth it. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
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