The rubberized track oval of the Cebu City Sports Center. | CDN Digital photo / Glendale G. Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Palarong Pambansa 2024 organizers assured all athletes competing in the medal-rich track and field event that the newly-renovated rubberized track oval of the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) will be ‘adjusted and repaired’ prior to the official start of the games on July 11.
Francis Cesar Bringas, the assistant secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), announced that the rubberized track oval will be ready come Thursday’s kick off of the centerpiece track and field event.
“We contacted and discusses it already with our expert technical consultant and they reported minor adjustments and repair on lanes 1 and 6 which are close to the finish line,” Bringas said in a media briefing on Monday, July 8, the eve of the grand opening ceremony of the Palarong Pambansa at the CCSC. He was joined by officials of the local organizing committee that included John Pages, the chairman of the Cebu City Sports Commission, and DepEd Assistant Schools Division Superintendent Adolf Aguilar.
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“The consultant is in contact with the contractor already for the necessary intervention so it will be ready before the start of the games on July 10,” he added.
Signs of damage
Concerns were raised after several signs of damage appeared on the newly-installed rubberized track of the CCSC which for many concerned citizens is highly-unusual and are signs that materials used were ‘substandard.’
READ: CCSC’s rubberized track oval shows ‘visible signs’ of damage
The oval was highly-criticized by many Cebuanos for taking more than a year to complete after renovation works started in May 2023.
Fast forward to July, damages such as the detachment of the rubber from its base, a bumpy surface, and the presence of water trapped inside the rubber base, among others, were observed on the facility.
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However, Bringas and Pages assured this will not hinder the track and field event to push through in Palarong Pambansa.
“We can say it is safe provided we do the adjustments and repairs to be done. We are looking into really repairing these with our technical consultants,” said Bringas.
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Repairs
For his part, Pages assured everyone that they have been communicating with the contractor of the oval to make necessary repairs the soonest.
“I have to defer what we have talked about with Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymod Garcia a few hours ago. We have been in touch with the contractor and they will be making [the] necessary repairs. Let us remember the entire track oval is a huge area. There are just some portions [that] need to be repaired. They need to be done. Most important the track oval is ready for the July 11 start of the athletics,” Pages said.
Other than that, the Palarong Pambansa is ready to fire off tomorrow. No less than Philippine President Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio will grace the event.
“We are very very excited, it has been a long time [since] Cebu has hosted the Palaro. Our journey began two years ago, when we hosted the bubble Palaro boxing and football events. We also hosted the pre-qualifying events of the Palaro. Last year was the very intensive bidding process we had to go through and the hosting of the CVIRAA,” Pages said.
“We are ready and Cebu is ready. We are waiting for this moment and we look forward to the coming week.”
The official kick off of Palarong Pambansa 2024 will start with a parade of the 19 participating regions along Osmeña Boulevard going to the CCSC at 2:30 pm. This will be followed by the opening program at 5:30 p.m.