Batang Pinoy to push thru in rain-hit Davao

MANILA, Philippines — Come hell or high water, the Mindanao Qualifying Leg of the 2019 Philippine National Youth Games-Batang Pinoy set to unfurl on Sunday in Tagum, Davao del Norte will push through as planned.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman William “Butch” Ramirez recently made assurances that the reported flooding in the host region caused by heavy rains had already subsided and everything is back to normal.

“The Batang Pinoy will start on Feb. 3 as scheduled,” said Ramirez.

There were concerns raised that the weeklong event, which is open to in and out-of-school athletes aged 15 years old and below, would be affected after Davao del Norte postponed classes in Tagum on Jan. 29 following inclement weather.

It will not stop the PSC though from holding the event.

The Tagum leg will be the first of three qualifiers the PSC is holding as part of its grassroots development program geared towards discovering potential talents and harnessing them to become future national team mainstays capable of bringing the country medals in international events like the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and possibly the Olympics.

“The Batang Pinoy is part of our national developmental program for the past three years and we will not stop searching for talented young athletes,” said Ramirez.

Part of the PSC’s plan is to train a select few among the most outstanding young athletes not just from the Batang Pinoy but the Palarong Pambansa as well, for several months and field them in the ASEAN School Games.

Also, Ramirez said the host local government unit would benefit from the event since the government sports-funding agency will donate P15 million worth of equipment.

Sports to be played in the regional meets are archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, chess, dancesport, futsal, karatedo, lawn tennis, pencak silat, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and indoor and beach volleyball while sports that will be calendared right in the finals are cycling, gymnastics, judo, muay, rugby, triathlon, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.

After Tagum, the Batang Pinoy will resume with the Visayas leg slated Feb. 23 to March 2 in Iloilo and will proceed up North with the Luzon edition set March 16 to 23 in Ilagan, Isabela.

The National Finals is tentatively set in October in either Tagbilaran, Bohol or Ormoc City, Leyte.