Could Negros Oriental still have a chance to host the 2017 Palarong Pambansa?
This possibility emerged following some conditions imposed by the Department of Education on host Antique province, which it has to meet by Feb. 23, two months before the games begin.
Under the agreement signed by both DepEd and Antique, the host Province shall ensure the safety of the participants by providing adequate and conveniently-located billeting quarters and facilities with sufficient water supply, uninterrupted electricity, and proper ventilation; and basic medical and dental services.
The playing venues must also conform to international standards, and be complete with facilities two months before the dates of Palaro.
As of this time, Antique does not have billeting quarters nor sports facilities that conform to international standards, a DepEd source told the MetroPost.
In contrast, Negros Oriental has met the standards of the Department of Education, and has even hosted the 2013 Palarong Pambansa.
Dumaguete City alone is home to various schools with large campuses that turn into athletes’ billeting quarters. The City also has several pension houses and hotels for sports dignitaries, athletes’s families, and other sports enthusiasts. It is home to three major hospitals; by February 2017, the Province is poised to have two more full-service hospitals.
For sporting venues, the Province boasts of a 5,000-seater Macias Sports & Cultural Center built on standards by the Philippine Basketball Association, an Olympic-standard Teves Memorial Aqua Center, a rubberized oval at the Perdices Stadium, and the Praxevilla Tennis Courts.
There are also several private sporting venues like Silliman University’s Cimafranca Ballfied and the Dionesio Flores Archery Range, several tennis courts and gymnasiums in various local government units and in schools like Foundation University’s Greyhound Gardens with a ballfield, the SU Shaw Memorial Pool, and the RUSI Ballfield in Daro.
Dumaguete was the top choice of the Palaro Committee but the DepEd source said political pressure from a Senator forced the Committee to award the hosting of the national games to Antique.
The Senator, it was learned, is from the province of Antique.
The DepEd recently formed a steering committee that will direct the course to be taken by the Province of Antique in hosting the Palarong Pambansa on April 23-27 next year.
The steering committee is comprised of Undersecretary Alberto Muyot, Undersecretary Alain del Pascua, and Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali, who were among those who supported the decision to award the Palaro 2017 hosting to Antique province.
The team will oversee priority preparations of Antique as it hosts, for the first time, the annual multi-sporting event for Filipino student-athletes.
The committee will assist in enabling the provincial government achieve the necessary preparations in the conduct of competitions, and the provision of secure and accessible billeting quarters, among others, the DepEd said in a press release.
