The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) head office in Manila announced it will be rescheduling the Philippine National Games (PNG), which was supposed to be held in December and hosted by both Cebu City and Cebu province.
In a meeting yesterday in Manila, PSC chairman William Ramirez announced that the PNG is tentatively moved to Apr. 15 to 21, 2018. Its original schedule was Dec. 10-16.
In a post in PSC’s official Facebook page, Ramirez said, “The moving of the event was permitted to make necessary administration to ensure an efficiently run PNG.”
Aside from the PNG, the Philippine Para National Games will likewise be moved to April next year with the venue yet to be determined.
Cebu City will be busy in the last two months of the year since it will be hosting two major sporting events, which are the Cebu City Olympics and the Grand Finals of the 41st National Milo Marathon. Both will be held at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC), which is also the main venue for the PNG.
PSC commissioner for the Visayas Ramon Fernandez told Cebu Daily News via a text message that the availability of all athletes was also one reason for the postponement.
The PNG is usually held on the same month as the Palarong Pambansa of the Department of Education (DepEd). But Fernandez has yet to confirm if the PNG will be held before or after the Palarong Pambansa since DepEd officials have not yet announced the final date of the Palaro.
The PNG will feature 21 sporting events: arnis, archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, cycling, dancesport, gymnastics, judo, karatedo, rugby football, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, lawn tennis, triathlon, volleyball and weightlifting.
The PNG is one of the primary qualifying meets for those who want to join the national team.
The meeting yesterday in PSC’s main office in Manila also tackled some of body’s plans, which include the construction of new mess halls for the national team, both in Manila and Pasig as announced by PSC executive director Sannah Frivaldo.
She also announced that Rizal Memorial Sports Complex will undergo refurbishment for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games hosting with an estimated budget of P2 Billion.