GMA graces Palaro opening in Tacloban

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – To accommodate President Arroyo, the opening ceremony of the Palarong Pambansa was rescheduled from today to Tuesday at the Leyte Sports Development Center in this Eastern Visayan port city.

The Chief Executive is scheduled to fly at around 10 a.m. on Tuesday and will be welcomed by host Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla and some local officials in the inaugurals to be highlighted with the traditional parade of colors and the formal declaration of the annual multi-sports event for elementary and high school students.

Some 15,000 athletes, coaches, delegation members, sports officials and media men have trooped to this city with a population of over 200,000 and known for its world-class handicrafts and popular tourist destinations.

This included traditional powerhouse National Capital Region, which is out to defend its overall championships in the high school and elementary levels after dominating last year’s edition in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

The Big City bets, the perennial winners here, are expected to get fierce competition from equally strong Western Visayas and Southern Tagalog.

Also expected to attend the event are top Education officials and regional directors while Metro Manila Development Authority chief Bayani Fernando, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Senators Mar Roxas, Pia Cayetano, Manny Villar and Jinggoy Estrada were invited but have yet to confirm.

Philippine Sports Commissioner chair Harry Angping will attend the closing ceremonies.

Organizers, however, said the opening ceremony, which starts from the Eastern Visayas State U and ends at the adjacent LSDC, was shortened to give athletes time to relax since games would commence right after the inaugurals.

All athletes from 17 delegations will battle it out for gold medals in 15 events in the elementary division and 17 sports disciplines in the high school section although a unique point system would be used to decide the overall champion.

One of the new events making its debut this year is high school boxing, a sport where the country has produced past Olympic medalists like 1996 Atlanta silver medal winner Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco, 1964 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Anthony Villanueva and Onyok’s elder brother 1992 Barcelona Olympics bronze medalist Ruel Velasco among others.

Other events calendared this year are athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, chess, football, gymnastics, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, lawn tennis and volleyball in elementary and archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, chess, football, gymnastics, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, lawn tennis and volleyball in high school.

All participating regions have already been accounted for with some arriving as early as last week and the rest yesterday.