THE Palarong Pambansa Executive Board is set to meet in Cebu City within the month to finalize the details of the 2024 edition of the sportsfest, including its dates and the city hosting the game, according to Cebu City Sports Commission chairman John Pages.
“Although I am not sure when exactly, but the Palaro board will be meeting in Cebu to finalize the details of the staging of the 2024 Palarong Pambansa, including the dates of the meet,” said Pages in an interview at the Cebu provincial capital over the weekend.
The CCSC honcho, who will head the local organizing committee of the national Palaro, said that Department of Education officials held a post-assessment meeting of the meet for secondary and elementary school student-athletes hosted by Marikina City last August.
“It was also supposed to be a planning session with all the Palaro tournament directors but our Mayor, Mike Rama, was indisposed at that time so was unable to attend. The results of the meeting were a prelude to what will be presented to the Palaro board,” Pages said.
He said that among those to be discussed during the meeting would be the exact dates of the competition, which will likely be towards the end of July 2024.
“Vice President Sara Duterte, who is also the Department Education Secretary, mandated that the elementary and high school students should have at least a month’s vacation when the school year ends on June 14, so we are looking at the end of July for the opening of the Palaro,” he said.
“We would have liked it to be held sooner but this was what VP Sara required so we can only follow her marching orders.”
He said that also included in the meeting is the finalization of the roster of disciplines that the “Queen City of the South” will be holding for the third time, the last being 30 years ago in 1994.
He added that aside from the regular Palaro student-athletes, para athletes will also participate in athletics, swimming, boccia and goal ball during the weeklong competition.
Pages said the next Palaro, shelved from 2020 to 2021 due to the pandemic, would likely feature athletes from 17 regions in the country.
