(from left to right) Cebu Coliseum, SM Seaside City Cebu, G Mall of Cebu, UV gymnasium, and USC Main Campus gymnasium. | Photos from Facebook, Google, and Wikipedia
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Top-notch venues around Cebu City will be utilized for hosting the Palarong Pambansa 2024 from July 6 to 17.
One of the key components that won Cebu City the bidding last year to host the Palaro is the availability and close proximity of its playing venues.
In an earlier statement, Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Francis Cesar Bringas said that he’s expecting nothing but ‘world-class’ hosting from Cebu City.
With that in mind, the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC), headed by its chairman, John Pages, has chosen the best venues for the 28 sports disciplines that will cater to more than 12,000 student-athletes from 17 regions.
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According to Pages, they will divide the 24 playing venues into several hubs, with the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) being the main hub where the secretariat, tabulator, and organizers are stationed throughout the games.
The other hubs Pages mentioned include the downtown hub and the South Road Properties (SRP) hub.
Palaro venues
The games to be played at the CCSC are the medal-rich events in athletics and swimming, while some football matches will also take place there.
Meanwhile, the downtown hubs will comprise the gymnasiums of the University of the Visayas (UV), the University of San Carlos (USC) Main, and the Cebu City Sports Institute in Sawang Calero for basketball 5×5.
Also included are the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) gymnasium for basketball 3×3, the Cebu Coliseum for boxing, and the Cebu Technological University (CTU) for table tennis.
Other school-based venues include the USJ-R Basak Campus and the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) for volleyball. At the same time, the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) in Punta Princesa is assigned for football and futsal, and the University of Cebu (UC) METC campus in Mambaling for Wushu.
“The universities have been very helpful, ready na ni, dili na need ug improvements, but refinements from the schools, but of course, the CCSC is the centerpiece for the renovations,” said Pages during an episode of the Teleradyo online program, “Pagtuki, Pagsusi, Pagsuta.”
On the other hand, the SRP venues are SM Seaside for taekwondo and archery, Citi de Mare for baseball and softball, Filinvest Mall Il Corso for Pencak Silat, and Dynamic Herb-Borromeo Sports Complex for football.
The rest of the venues include Metrosports (badminton), City Mall (billiards), SHS-Ateneo de Cebu (aero gymnastics), the Gmall of Cebu (dancesport and chess), CIT-U (men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics), SWU-Phinma (Rhythmic gymnastics), Citigreen tennis court (lawn tennis), Alta Vista (lawn tennis), Villa Aurora (lawn tennis), and Camp Lapu-Lapu (lawn tennis).
The arnis venue, according to Pages, has yet to be determined.
CCSC promised that the venues would be within roughly 3 kilometers of Cebu City to prevent participants, their supporters, and spectators from traveling far, which is a common experience in previous Palarong Pambansa hosts.