The Negros Occidental Provincial Sports and Development Office is pushing for the inclusion of three more disciplines in the 2006 Panaad Sportsfest at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City from April 22 to May 1.

Manuel De Oro, officer-in-charge of the PSDO, said he is pushing for swimming, chess and table tennis to be included in the calendar of events of the competitions to be participated in by athletes from the various towns and cities in Negros Occidental.

Negros has produced internationally competitive swimmers, including 2003 Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Carlo Piccio and Mark Kalaw, and ASEAN Swimfest qualifier Krestia Angela Lacson.

Negrense tankers have also been a big part in the Negros' success in national and regional meets such as the Palarong Panlalawigan, Western Visayas Regional Athletics Association Meet and Palarong Pambansa.

De Oro said the PSDO is pushing for the inclusion of three more disciplines to boost the participation of the towns and cities, adding that these events are easier to organize because they are individual sports.

Already lined up in the calendar of events are athletics, boxing, taekwondo and the Mambukal race.

The staging of swimming, chess and table tennis hostilities would mean an additional budget of P70,000 for the Panaad tilt that is currently pegged at around P103,800, De Oro said.

He said the proposal for hiking the event's budget to P173,800 will be presented to the Panaad Executive Committee today so that it will be deliberated on ahead of the other activities included in the Panaad Sa Negros Festival in April.

The Panaad Sportsfest, which is expected to draw about 1,000 athletes from all over Negros Occidental, is being staged for the second time after not being held in 2004, he added.

Meanwhile, De Oro said that the P60,000 budget proposal for the 2006 provincial mass-based sports program has already been submitted to the provincial government for validation.

PSDO launched its swimming, athletics and boxing programs in the cities of Kabankalan, Sagay, Escalante, Talisay and Bago last year and in Ilog town. *CIT

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