THE Philippine National Games (PNG) will be an annual event after all.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Commissioner Ramon “El Presidente” Fernandez, also the overall chairman of the ongoing multi-sporting meet in Cebu, said they need the PNG to provide continuous exposure to local athletes aside from being the primary qualifiers for the national team.
Fernandez earlier announced that they will make the PNG a biennial meet so that they can prepare it more extensively and make it more prestigious.
The PSC planned to line it up with the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) with a vision to make it as the “Philippine Olympics.”
Instead, Fernandez decided to make the PNG an annual meet and will be scheduled right after the Palarong Pambansa.
There are 96 competing Local Government Units (LGU) in the ongoing meet that will last until Friday.
The meet is co-hosted by the Cebu City Government and the Cebu Provincial Government.
There are around 4,000 athletes vying in 22 sporting events held around Cebu.
The winning LGU after the competition will bring home a whopping P10-million cash assistance for its sports development program while the rest of the top five in the medal standings will receive P8-million, P6-million, P4-million, and P2-million, respectively.