DepEd assistant secretary Dr. Francis Cesar Bringas talks to the media during a press conference on Friday, February 2. Joining him is CCSC chairman John Pages. | Photo from Cebu City PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines— The Department of Education (DepEd) anticipates nothing short of a ‘world-class’ hosting from Cebu City for the upcoming 2024 Palarong Pambansa.
Dr. Francis Cesar Bringas, DepEd Assistant Secretary for Field Operations, expressed this expectation during the signing of the memorandum of agreement between Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Z. Duterte and Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama.
The signing formalized Cebu City’s role as the host for the largest multi-sports meet in the country, taking place at the Cebu City Hall on Friday, February 2.
After the MOA signing, Bringas, along with Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) Chairman John Pages, DepEd Region 7 Director Sal Jimenez, and DepEd Assistant Secretary Dexter Galban, led a press conference.
“We are expecting that Cebu City will be going to have world-class sports facilities. I know that in the Visayas, Cebu is a center for sports, and you have been hosting several international events. And we would be expecting to experience playing in world-class facilities,” said Bringas during the presser.
Although there is no exact date for the Palarong Pambansa next year, Bringas hinted that it will likely fall in the months when the 2023 edition happened.
Last year, Marikina City hosted Palarong Pambansa in July, which will likely be the month when the 2024 edition will happen.
This was mentioned by Bringas during the press conference at the Cebu City Hall on Friday, February 2, 2024.
Bringas is the main person behind the scenes in Palarong Pambansa. He oversees Palaro’s technicalities, hosting, and other crucial aspects.
“We really monitor and inspect the facilities to meet the international standards from the track oval to the swimming pool, baseball diamonds, and whole courts. We’re trying to coordinate with them closely because want a world-class staging of the Palarong Pambansa. We don’t anything less from Cebu City,” added Bringas.
Since June last year, Cebu City has been renovating several sports facilities, especially the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC), constructed in 1994 during the city’s second hosting of the Palarong Pambansa.
According to Pages, CCSC will reopen in April for Cebu City’s hosting of the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) meet, serving as the dry run for the Palaro hosting.
CCSC will feature a newly-renovated swimming pool equipped with an Olympic-standard practice area, a freshly installed rubberized track oval with an extended practice area, and other upgrades as part of the P200 million budget for the hosting.
Besides that, CCSC tapped Cebu’s various universities with top-notch sports facilities within a 3.3-kilometer radius to host over 30 sports events in a week-long competition featuring over 20,000 athletes from 17 regions.
Over 200,000 visitors, mostly parents and supporters of the athletes, will come to Cebu to watch the games.
“To all those who will come, athletes, coaches, officials, parents, and friends, we want this to be a memorable experience for them, starting with the games, to be at the highest level, more than that Mayor Mike Rama said that maybe a week before Palarong Pambansa,” said Pages.
“We want them to be able to tour around Cebu. That’s why we’re collaborating with the Cebu Provincial government with Governor Gwen Garcia, so we can invite everyone to experience not just the sporting activities of Cebu, but also the beautiful things that Cebu has to offer.”
The last time Cebu City hosted a major multi-sports meet was in 2018 during the Philippine National Games (PNG), where then-President Rodrigo Duterte doubled the grand prize money for the winning LGU.
Before that, Cebu City hosted the National Milo Little Olympics twice in 2009 and in 2013. In 2005, Cebu City was one of the hosts of the Southeast Asian Games.
According to Bringas, one of the factors that Cebu City won the bidding last year was its way of presenting itself to DepEd.
“We’ve set several standards from playing venues, facilities, and billeting quarters and all other aspects of the LGU. We cannot really say which part Cebu City stood out, but all we can say is that it got the unanimous vote during the bidding process,” Bringas revealed.
“I think it would be the manner by which Cebu presented their bid and their offer, and they were validated by the ocular inspection, particularly in the areas of development of the sports facilities and sports venues.”
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