MANILA, 7 March 2003 — It’s all systems go for the staging of the 2003 Palarong Pambansa — traditionally the breeding ground of future national athletes — tentatively set on May 4-11 at the newly-built Mindanao Civic Center in Tubod, Lanao del Norte.
Education Department Edilberto de Jesus has thrown his unqualified support to the staging of the nationwide multi-event sports competition.
Despite the fact that running the Palaro is already in the hands of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), De Jesus assured the total cooperation of the 14 DepEd regional directors who are traditionally in charge of the delegations.
De Jesus also praised the facilities at the Mindanao Civic Center, which was built mainly for the Palaro to the tune of 500 million pesos. His support was greatly appreciated especially now that the PSC is trying to steer the Palaro into local government-based Games similar to the Philippine National Youth Games-Batang Pinoy starting next year.
The DepEd traditionally runs the preparation of the delegations because they have the hands-on control over the students and teachers who take part in the annual event.
But PSC chairman Eric Buhain has been in support of an LGU-based Palaro because it was the LGUs themselves who manage the preparation in the grassroots level before the DepEd regional offices would take over in the actual Games.
“The all-out support of the DepEd is very vital to the success of the Palaro in Tubod. With this kind of inter-agency cooperation in the government, we will be able to really boost Philippine sports,’’ said Buhain.
Buhain also expressed his intention to include out-of-school youths in the Palaro to widen the base of the country’s athletic talent-search.
Tubod is bringing the Palaro to Mindanao after two postponements in the past although many are wary of the peace and order situation in Mindanao.
“The peace and order in Mindanao is not an issue,” said PSC commissioner William “Butch” Ramirez, engineer of the successful sports for peace program named as the Mindanao Friendship Games held in Tubod last year. “Mindanao is generally peaceful contrary to what others are saying. In fact, Tubod is even safer than Quiapo.”
Tubud was originally picked to host the Games among Filipino schoolchildren in 1999 and again in 2000 but, due to peace and order problems and the lack of funds, Bacolod City took over. In 2001, the event was scrapped yet again due to financial problems.
This year, however, the Games will be revived for the first time under the leadership of Buhain. Thanks to financial supports from the budget and education departments along with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Palaro will push through this summer.
The budget department has pledged 40 million pesos for the Palaro in Tubud, while the education department promised to help through its time-tested group of physical education and organization teachers. The AFP, for its part, guarantees a peaceful staging of the Palaro in Lanao del Norte.
In 1999, Lanao del Norte got Malacañang funding to build a new multi-purpose sports complex and other infrastructure but, when the money stopped pouring in, all works ceased.
