Young athletes brace for 'hottest' ever Palarong Pambansa

In more ways than one, this is perhaps the "hottest" ever Palarong Pambansa. 

Not only is the heat of the sun in full force--and hotly contested records waiting to be broken, but this year's Palaro is being held in Albay, Bicol, which means everything is more spicy than usual.

The week-long #Palaro2016 (which started last April 10), welcomed 12,000 delegates including student athletes and coaches from all 18 regions of the country. That figure balloons to 17,000 when supporters of the national games are taken into account.

That's the reason why almost all flights and bus rides to Legazpi are fully booked at the moment. Hotels around Legazpi and Albay have seen their occupancy rate go up. I can imagine restaurants and other industries that have anything to do with the Palaro are very happy, too.

We all know that the Palarong Pambansa aims to foster sportsmanship and camaraderie among the regions and athletes, but this year's theme, "Transforming Communities, Transcending Through K to 12,” aims to promote physical education and sports as an integral part of Basic Education for a holistically-developed youth that is responsible and globally-competitive.

More than the medals that athletes hope to take home, it's exciting to see what kind of sports icons could emerge from these grassroots-level youth competition.

The opening ceremony last Sunday (April 10) saw representatives from Davao turn over the Palarong Pambansa banner to the local government of Albay. Last year, the Palaro was held in Davao del Norte. The year before that, it was held in Dumaguete. In 2013, the games were held in Laguna.

Games require teamwork, parallel to the nature of nation building, which requires working with stakeholders and partners, said Albay Governer Joey Salceda. 

“We appear to be chasing medals, but we are actually chasing dreams. We are teaching our young ones that competition is better when rules apply to everyone and when the playing field is leveled,” Salceda said.

DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro was on hand to welcome the delegates, thanking every one on behalf of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. This year's Palaro is extra special for Bro. Armin as it is the last time he oversees one as education secretary under the Aquino administration.

Luistro said: “Tiwala tayo sa tagumpay ng Palarong Pambansa 2016. Malay ninyo, katabi niyo na pala ang susunod na Lydia de Vega. Ngayon palang binabati na ko na ang mga manlalaro... saludo po ako sa inyong lahat. Patuloy kayong maging inspirasyon."

Note: Stay tune for more articles, photos, and videos of this year's Palarong Pambansa which TWIST will post in the coming days. Thank you! :)