Luzon, Visayas Games slated after May polls

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) yesterday announced the indefinite postponement of the staging of the Luzon Games set April 24 — 30 in the City of Manila and the Visayas Games from April 13 — 18 in Iloilo City.

According to PSC chairman Eric Buhain, the postponement was based on the discussions and sentiments gathered during the Luzon-wide and Visayas-wide Technical Assemblies held last month wherein the PSC National Programs Secretariat gave weight to suggestions raised by some local government units to launch both Games after the May national elections.

"Holding the Luzon and Visayas Games after the elections will provide the concerned LGUs more time to prepare their delegations and generate the required funding for their participation," said Buhain.

"Moreover, some LGUs have claimed their need to reformat their sports programs especially now that the PSC is introducing the reorientation and integration of other grassroots programs into both Games," Buhain added.

The PSC is actually set in introducing the integration and simultaneous staging of other grassroots programs into its proposed geographical qualifying multi-sport competitions such as the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Games, divided into different age brackets.

The Philippine National Youth Games - Batang Pinoy (12 and under), Palarong Pambansa (13 — 17), and the Open (18 and above) shall be integrated into these geographical qualifying games for the culminating event that is the Philippine National Championships, which will showcase the country’s best athletes in the different age categories.

According to PSC National Programs Secretariat head Ariel Paredes, the simultaneous staging of these programs is cost efficient and manageable to all concerns, particularly with regard to its logistical requirements and coordinative work both for the PSC and the participating LGUs.

Participants are broken down to 79 provinces; 115 highly urbanized, special, component, chartered and/or independent cities and four municipalities from the National Capital Region, namely: San Juan, Taguig, Pateros and Malabon.

For the Luzon Games, 38 provinces, 56 cities and four municipalities were entered. The Visayas Games will have 16 provinces and 32 municipalities participating while taking part in the Mindanao Games are 25 provinces and 27 cities, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.