An aerial shot was taken on June 21 at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC), which will serve as one of the playing venues for the Palarong Pambansa 2024. The opening and closing ceremonies of the sporting event will also be held there. | Cebu City News and Information
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Palarong Pambansa 2024 is set to make history by including two new delegations, bringing the total to 19 teams for the first time.
This year’s event will feature student-athletes from the National Academy of Sports (NAS) and the Philippine Schools Overseas (PSOs), alongside the 17 regional delegations recognized by the Department of Education (DepEd).
The week-long sports activities will take place from July 9-16 in Cebu City.
Adolf Aguilar, assistant superintendent of DepEd, said this in an interview on Thursday via Sugboanon Channel, the Cebu City Hall’s media arm.
Aguilar also expressed his excitement and acknowledged the historical involvement of these schools.
“So 17 are regional delegations but for the first time in Palaro history, we have the 18th team which is the NAS and the 19th team is the schools from overseas ,” he said.
The NAS, based in Tarlac City, is a specialized school for sports with student-athletes funded by the Philippine government to focus intensively on sports.
Aguilar also emphasized that these athletes will be challenged to win, given that they are considered the best, well-trained, and funded to excel in their respective sports.
“Actually challenging sa ilang part because they are supposedly considered the best athletes and they should win because taas kaayog expectation sa ilaha kay they are funded and trained well,” he added.
Meanwhile, the PSOs, which consist of Filipino-accredited schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong, already form their team consisting a set of student-athletes to participate in both individual and team sports events in this year’s Palarong Pambansa edition.
According to Aguilar, a total of 20 public schools around Cebu City will serve as billeting quarters for the 19 delegations, with both the NAS and PSOs delegations residing in City Central High School. /clorenciana
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