APPRECIATION FOR SUPPORT OF PARTNERS IN 2023 PALARONG PAMBANSA

ALNAIR B. CAWIGAN

The Department of Education (DepEd) conveyed the agency’s appreciation to its partners for their unwavering support during the 2023 Palarong Pambansa. According to the DepEd, their contribution has been nothing short of invaluable, playing a vital role in ensuring the success of our student-athletes, technical officials, and all those involved in the event. It is the hope of DepEd that the partners will continue supporting the annual scholastic sports meet and other DepEd programs. It expressed confidence that their sponsorships and your donations will be the same or more by 2024, 2025, 2026, and so on, thanking them for answering the agency’s call for partnership and convergence with the private sector. The 2023 Palarong Pambansa was held nearly three years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation. An additional tier called the Pre-National Qualifying Meet wasnintroduced to lessen the number of delegations, shorten the duration of the event, and lower the expenses to be incurred—all without sacrificing the level of play. As such, the said new level only featured team sports such as baseball, basketball, football, futsal, sepak takraw, football, and volleyball. Under the new tier, delegations were clustered into four groups based on their geographical location. Cluster 1 was comprised of the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR); Cluster 2 was CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, NCR, and Bicol Region; Cluster 3 was Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula Region; and Cluster 4 was Northern Mindanao, Davao, SOCCKSARGEN, CARAGA, and BARMM. Aside from student-athletes from the 17 DepEd regional athletic associations, Filipino athletes enrolled in recognized schools overseas were also be allowed to compete in individual sports under the banner of Philippine Schools Overseas (PSOs).

-oOoThe author is a Teacher III at Maliwalo National High School