Refub works on Davao del Norte facilities set for Palaro

DAVAO DEL NORTE, Philippines – Minor refurbishment and upgrading of facilities will start in earnest in the New Year to make Davao del Norte fit and trim to host the 2015 Palarong Pambansa, according to Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario.

Although the province could host the annual multi-sport event among student athletes anytime, Del Rosario said Davao del Norte would make sure the smallest kinks would be ironed out for the province to set a benchmark for future hosts of the competitions supervised by the Department of Education.

Davao del Norte got 16 out of 18 votes from the selection committee for 2015. The province beat Zamboanga del Norte, Lanao del Norte, Surigao del Norte, and South Cotabato.

The main hub of the 2015 Palaro, set May 3 to 9, will be the Davao del Norte Sports Complex located in the capital Tagum City.

Del Rosario said priority will be the upgrading of water pipes in the sports complex and satellite competition venues as well as in the billeting centers for the event that is expected to gather 10,000 athletes, officials and fans and supporters from the country’s 17 regions for an expected attendance of around 15,000.

The complex has an eight-track athletics oval, an Olympic-size swimming pool with an adjacent warm up pool that has a 500-person capacity grandstand, a multi-purpose gymnasium, two tennis courts and a club house.

Security will also be tops on the list with the Davao del Norte Provincial Police Office deploying close to a thousand personnel from the police, Army and other force multipliers two weeks before and three days after the Palaro. They will be stationed in billeting areas, venues, crowded places and entry points to the city.

There will also be a VIP express lane from the Davao airport to Tagum City to ease Palaro participants of the relatively heavy traffic along the route.

Davao del Norte is not new to hosting major local competitions, among them the 2013 Batang Pinoy Mindanao leg, the 2014 Private Schools Athletic Association, Davao Region Athletic Association, and the Philippine Football Federation Regional Qualifiers.