Palarong Pambansa local organizers headed by Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia answer questions from the media during a press conference on Friday. | Photo from CEBU CITY PIO Ruel Rosello
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City is set to add exciting innovations when it hosts the Palarong Pambansa 2024 to level up the excitement about the national games.
This was announced by the local organizers during a press conference at the newly-renovated Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) on Friday.
Assistant School Division Superintendent Adolf Aguilar of DepEd Cebu City unveiled several firsts in the athletic meet set to unravel from July 9 to 16 2024.
Besides the notable debut of the two new participating teams – the National Academy of Sports (NAS) and Philippine Schools Overseas (PSOs) – Aguilar excitedly announced new major features in store during the competition which aims to further innovate the national games.
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For one, dancesport, which is a perennial stranglehold of the Cebuanos, is now a regular sport in the Palarong Pambansa 2024 calendar. It means that medals won in the event will now be included in the official medal tally.
In a departure from the traditional overall champions determined by the total medal count, Aguilar also detailed some revisions in awarding the best regions.
The awards structured some highlights that focus on individual achievements.
Aguilar explained that they will award the top five regions in each sport and will declare the champion in each sport. Also, they will award the top division/city that won the most gold medals.
“This time, we will be awarding the top five divisions that produced more gold than the other. The divisions are mostly cities, makita nimo unsa nga city nakadaog ug pinakadaghan ug gold. Nag pa reserve sila ug trophy. It’s another first to declare overall champion per sport,” said Aguilar.
INDIVIDUAL ATHLETE RECOGNITION
Furthermore, gold medalists will receive more prestige for their achievements through the official Palarong Pambansa 2024 website, showcasing their names, schools, and hometowns alongside their victories.
“We will highlight now the names of the athletes winning the gold, unlike before that we only highlight the region. But this time in this year’s Palaro in Cebu, we will highlight the name behind that gold medal and the school should also be honored,” said Aguilar during the presser.
“If you click the details on the result through the website, you can find information there like the name of the athlete winning the gold, the school, the division, and the city.”
INNOVATIVE PALARO
The DepEd Region 7 tested its capability to host a modernized Palarong Pambansa 2024 during last May’s Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA). It served as a precursor or dry run to the modernized Palaro.
Aguilar announced that a dedicated mobile application and live streaming via YouTube and Facebook will ensure widespread access to real-time updates and results for all 34 sports events.
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Those who can’t be in Cebu during the five-day meet can watch the Palarong Pambansa 2024 live comfortably wherever they are through live streaming of each of the 34 sports events on YouTube and Facebook.
Also, they installed massive LED screens at the CCSC where real-time updates of the medal tally and results will be posted throughout the meet.
Lastly, Aguilar clarified that the 17 regions need not worry about the entry of the two new teams which have elite athletes from the NAS and PSOs since they will compete only in limited events in the Palarong Pambansa 2024.
Thus, it will not entirely affect the medal standings.