Biennial Palaro?

The proposal to hold the Palarong Pambansa every two years instead of annually seems a sound idea.

Although there are many, who would think otherwise, I believe that holding the Palaro every other year would save the Department of Education a lot of money that can be used to address more pressing concerns.

One of the reasons cited is the fact that many hosts cannot complete the needed infrastructure on time for the annual sports meet.

The Palaro is now being held in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte and just like many other previous hosts, the construction of facilities were completed on the last minute.

In 1994, when Cebu last hosted the Palaro, work was still being done of the Cebu City Sports Center until the final minute. It is not exactly a surprise because even Olympic hosts face the same problems.

I wonder if the holding of the Palaro every two years would really solve the problem of hosts rushing preparations.

On the way to the Palaro, athletes also go through several stages of competition starting with the district meet then the division meet and then the regional meet. The best of the region would comprise the team to the Palaro.

If the Palaro would not be held yearly, does this might also mean that the three other sports meets would also become biennial competitions? That definitely would be among the things that the officials of DepEd will discuss.

In the 1990s, the hosting of the Palarong Pambansa was made in order to spread the infrastructure budget around the country.

Through that system, sports centers were built in various regions nationwide. Unfortunately, many of those structures built for the Palaro have become white elephants after the sports meet.

The same did not happen for our Cebu City Sports Center, which has been regarded as the best utilized sports facility in the country.

I’m sure the DepEd officials would think very hard before making a decision on how often the Palaro should be staged. With our very long class days, it is actually close to being miraculous that our athletes can still find time to train.

The DepEd might also want to take a closer look at the class schedules and how they can incorporate sports into the daily program without sacrificing the quality of education.

Maybe the K+12 (Kindergarten plus 12 years of basic education) is one way to do it, but personally I think this is only an added burden to the students and the parents.

Improving our educational system cannot be attained by longer class days or more years in school. I believe in well-rounded programs that can help the school children not only learn the basics, but also give them time for sports and other worthwhile activities that build better citizens.

This also means stiffer penalties for those who cheat in inter-school meets.

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MILESTONES: Belated birthday greetings to those who turned a year older last Monday like Barbette Barbon-Lominoque, Bernabe Salazar, Jr., Lulette Cañizares, Baby May Bacalso, Agnes Vitualla, and Annaliza Patigayon.

The same goes to those who celebrated yesterday like my mistahs Donn Anthony Miraflor and Ting Malinit, Darlene Malimas, and Jill Gaite.

Today’s greetings go to Cecilia Evardo, Frauline Soria, Femy Navarro, Love Joy Malicay, Lyra Aranton, Sigrid Tigol-Reyes, Joy Quintana-Gollon, and Lara Naomi Verdan-Agua.

More power to all of you! — THE FREEMAN