LOCOS SUR will fulfill its commitment to host the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) Batang Pinoy national championships that is returning this December after being shuttered for almost three years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ilocos Sur Provincial Sports Consultant Edwin Llanes confirmed to BusinessMirror on Tuesday that the multi-sport games for athletes aged 15 years old and younger will go on as scheduled from December 4 to 10.
“Yes, Ilocos Sur will host the games this December as per Governor Jerry [Jeremias Singson],” Llanes told BusinessMirror. “But we need to inspect the facilities still.”
Ilocus Sur and Vigan City, main hub of the province’s hosting of the games, shared the brunt of the damages wrought by the intensity 7.0 earthquake that rocked Northern Luzon, particularly Abra and Ilocos Norte and Ilocus Sur.
Damages to property and infrastructure—and heritage sites—were reported, but Llanes guaranteed local engineers are vouching for the integrity of the facilities that will be used for the Batang Pinoy.
“Practically the same venues used for the Palarong Pambansa will be utilized for the Batang Pinoy, although we are looking at billeting areas that are closer to the competition venues,” Llanes said.
Vigan City and its neighboring towns hosted the 2018 edition of the Palaro.
The Batang Pinoy national championships was last staged in Puerto Princesa in 2019, just four months before Covid started to evolve into a pandemic.
Ilocus Sur will host nine sports—archery, athletics, badminton, chess, cycling, table tennis, swimming, weightlifting and demonstration sport obstacle sports—that will be played face to face. There will also be virtual or online competitions in arnis, dancesports, judo, karate, muay, pencak silat, taekwondo and wushu.
PSC OIC and Executive Director Atty. Guillermo Iroy also told BusinessMirror that a technical working group from the Batang Pinoy secretariat will meet with Llanes and his group on August 24 to iron out remaining kinks in the staging of the games.