DepEd Palarong Pambansa secretariat Joel Erestain (third from right, seated) is joined by Cebu City Sports Commission and DepEd Region VII officials during a meeting last week in Cebu City. | Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City is on the right track to hosting the Palarong Pambansa in the coming years, Department of Education (DepEd) Palarong Pambansa Secretariat Joel Erestain said.
This is as Erestain and the DepEd Palarong Pambansa officials have witnessed how the Cebuanos host major sporting events over the past months amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Erestain along with Palarong Pambansa secretariat head Edward Masucat II, and Palarong Pambansa secretariat head Maximo Abalos are in Cebu to supervise the Palarong Pambansa Boxing VisMin Cup slated for July 12 to 15 at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
Last May, Erestain and his team were in Cebu for the first time to see the Central Visayas Football Association (CVFA) and Cebu City’s DepEd Local School Board’s hosting of the Palarong Pambansa Football Bubble Tournament which capped off with flying colors.
During their visit to Cebu, Erestain revealed that they are eyeing Cebu City as a model to host Palarong Pambansa under the new normal.
“Part of our recommendation on how we’re going to decide and format our next tournament, nakita na po natin na kaya naman ng Cebu City. We’re hoping that Cebu City can host Palarong Pambansa, but dumadaan tayo sa proseso. We’re hoping to put that in the door in their bid the next Palarong Pambansa in the Visayas,” said Erestain.
With that in mind, Erestain has high expectations for Cebu City, particularly the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) for its success in hosting the Palarong Pambansa Boxing VisMin Cup.
The major amateur slugfest will be fielding 80 boxers from eight teams in Visayas and Mindanao region.
“From the very start, napakalaking bagay po ng Cebu City lalo ng sports commission at CVFA, it inspired us to bring up the boxing competition. Sa simula regionwide lang sana ang plano natin, but with the inspiring success of the Palarong Pambansa football, we were inspired to make the scope larger and include Mindanao to invite them to join the VisMin Cup,” said Erestain.
He added that the tournaments they’re organizing here in Cebu are a crucial step in restarting Palarong Pambansa under the new normal.
It is their gauge on how to organize this major multi-sports meet safely amidst the COVID-19 threat.
“These competitions we’re having so far, these competitions decide to retweak our tournament formats, because the pandemic and virus are still here. We know the virus is still here, kaya naman, eto pong ginagawa natin mga limited face-to-face competitions is to make it the norm of Palarong Pambansa in 2023. If ever it will be allowed, we know how to conduct our tournaments,” said Erestain.
“We will be sure our athletes are safe because the safety and health of our athletes will always be our primordial concern in DepEd.” /rcg
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