Weather contingency plans in place for Palarong Pambansa 2024
The newly-renovated Cebu City Sports Center. | CDN File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — With two to three typhoons expected to enter the Philippines this month according to PAGASA, many are wary about the weather for the upcoming Palarong Pambansa, which will kick off from July 9-16 at various venues.
However, the Palarong Pambansa local organizers have already implemented contingency plans to ensure the games will continue with minimal disruptions during the rainy season.
According to Assistant School Division Superintendent Adolf Aguilar of DepEd Cebu City, they have already observed how Palaro organizers handled weather issues during last year’s games in Marikina.
To recall, last year’s Palarong Pambansa in Marikina City was marred by bad weather. The opening ceremony was greeted with heavy downpour, forcing athletes from the 17 regions to wear raincoats and use umbrellas.
Flooding was also reported in several areas, but overall, the event concluded successfully.
Now that the Palarong Pambansa falls on the same month as the start of the rainy season, Aguilar told reporters during a press conference last Friday that they have already implemented measures.
“There are measures to be implemented for the games affected by weather. For tennis, we have indoor venues at the Alta Vista and Citigreen, in case kusog ang uwan, atong i transfer ang uban venues didto, we extend the games until the evening,” said Aguilar.
“For outdoor games like archery, softball, baseball, and football, these are the most affected in terms of weather challenges, we already put up field lights at CCSC, kung kulangon ang oras, we can extend the games until late in the evening.”
Aguilar is praying to Sr. Santo Niño for guidance and hoping that there will be no serious weather conditions during the Palaro.
On the other hand, Thomas Pastor, DepEd Region 7 Chief Education Supervisor, mentioned that in case of hot weather, it is up to the tournament managers to halt the games and wait for cooler conditions.
“The games are subject to the day’s heat index, but additionally, naa jud na mandatory time nga ihunong ang duwa, kung walay init, the tournament manager will decide to continue the games,” said Pastor.
“We call it the rule of succession and then atong window depende sa heat index, and giingon nato, if ever okay na ang heat playable ra, then we can continue, considering naa nata sa rainy season, naa possibility makaduwa 10 AM onwards.”
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