The Central Visayas Dancesport Team, composed mostly of Cebu City dancesport athletes, proudly display their medals in the dancesport competition. | CDN photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Palarong Pambansa 2024 closed its curtains on Tuesday evening, July 16, with host Cebu City finishing eighth overall in the division rankings.
This year marked a historic first for Palarong Pambansa as the top divisions were also recognized apart from the usual regional rankings.
This change followed a recommendation from Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Commissioner Edward Hayco, aimed at identifying the unique forte sports from each city for their grassroots sports programs.
After a week of intense competition featuring 34 sports, Cebu City emerged eighth among 185 provinces, cities, and towns.
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Cebu City’s athletes secured 13 gold, 14 silver, and 16 bronze medals. These victories contributed significantly to Central Visayas’ total of 29 gold, 42 silver, and 39 bronze medals, good for fifth overall in the regional rankings for the second consecutive year.
NCR’s Manila leads
Leading the medal tally was the National Capital Region’s (NCR) Manila, boasting an impressive 37 gold, 22 silver, and 25 bronze medals. Iloilo Province from Western Visayas followed with a 25-14-16 count, while Pasig City, also from NCR, claimed third place with a 21-11-18 tally.
Cebu City’s success was driven by outstanding performances in dancesport, with its athletes securing seven gold medals.
Remarkably, six of these were won by the dynamic duo Mitchloni Dinauanao and Francis Dave Sombal, who triumphed in the junior Latin single jive, rumba, samba, Grade A-5, cha-cha, and paso doble categories. The other pair was Shadelle Niña Hernandez and Rhyss Rhafael Fajardo who topped the standard dance quickstep.
Cebu City’s chess players also contributed significantly, with two gold medals from the University of San Jose-Recoletos’ Kristina Concepcion Belano and University of Cebu’s (UC) Edelyn Vosotros.
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In combat sports, Rena Jean Tigmo (taekwondo kyorugi) and Cris Ivhan Espina (boxing) each added a gold medal to Cebu City’s haul.
Gymnastics saw Lilia Sage Daso winning gold in the individual all-around for elementary girls.
On the final day of the Palarong Pambansa, the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) Greywolves clinched Central Visayas’ and the host’s last gold medal by defending their elementary boys’ football title against Calabarzon with a 3-0 victory at the Dynamic Herb-Borromeo Sports Complex.
Cebu City acting mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has previously announced that cash incentives will be given to the city’s medalists in the Palarong Pambansa to acknowledge their hard work.