PUERTO Princesa is “99.9 percent” prepared to host close to 20,000 athletes and officials participating in the Batang Pinoy National Championships unfolding tomorrow in the Palawan provincial capital, according to Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron.
“Transportation, accommodation, food, venues – you name it – Puerto Princesa is 99.9 percent ready to host the Batang Pinoy Nationals,” Bayron said of the flagship youth and grassroots meet of the Philippine Sports Commission the city will host for the second time.
“I believe we won’t have any problems about food since we get it from Manila and other cities so we have stocked up on these for those who will come over for the Batang Pinoy,” said the mayor, who expressed confidence his staff would be able to handle the requirements of the games.
He disclosed the athletes and delegates would be clustered near their respective competition venues, with most of the 30 sports set either at the Ramon V. Mitra Sports Complex or the Palawan Princesa City Coliseum.
“Like track and field and swimming that will be held at the Ramon V. Mitra Sports Complex, tabi-tabi lang sila. This is also why transportation won’t be a problem since we have a lot of vans available to meet this need while we have established a command center to address the safety and security for the duration of the Batang Pinoy,” he said.
“The fact that we also staged the Batang Pinoy National Games in 2019 had made us better prepared for what to expect this time around,” he added.
On tap during the youth sports showcase are the disciplines of archery, arnis, badminton, athletics, 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball, breaking, chess, cycling, dancesport, futsal, gymnastics, jiu-jitsu, karate, kick boxing, kurash, lawn tennis, muay thai, obstacle sports, pencak silat, sepak takraw, soft tennis, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, wushu and wrestling.
To encourage the participation of local government units, the PSC will hand cash incentives – P5 million to the overall champion, P4 million to the runner-up, P3 million for third, P2 million for fourth and P1 million for fifth place, respectively.
