The Palarong Pambansa (Filipino for "National Games") is an annual multi-sport event involving student-athletes from 17 regions of the Philippines. The event, started in 1948, is organized and governed by the Department of Education.
Student-athletes from public and private schools at elementary and secondary levels can compete, provided they qualified by winning at their regional meet. For young Filipino student-athletes, Palarong Pambansa is the culmination of school sports competition, which start with local school intramurals, followed by the congressional district, provincial, and regional athletic meets.
The objectives of the Palaro are:
To promote physical education and sports as an integral part of the basic education curriculum for holistic development of the youth;
Inculcate the spirit of discipline, teamwork, excellence, fair play, solidarity, sportsmanship, and other values inherent in sports;
Promote and achieve peace by means of sports;
Widen the base for talent identification, selection, recruitment, training and exposure of elementary pupils and secondary students to serve as a feeder to the National Sports Association (NSA) for international competitions; and
Provide a database for a valid and universal basis to further improve the school sports development programs.
The legal basis of the Palarong Pambansa is stipulated in the provision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article XIV, Section 19.
Student-athletes
History
The first edition of the games was held in Manila in 1948. Before it was called Palarong Pambansa, it was dubbed as Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games (BPISAA). It continued yearly until it was cancelled in 1957 due to the death of President Ramon Magsaysay. In 1958, Tagbilaran, Bohol hosted the 10th edition of the game. The game was again cancelled in 1972 when President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. In 1973, the last BPISAA which was held in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
In 1974, the Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games was renamed Palarong Pambansa.
In 1980, 1984-1987 and 1999 Palarong Pambansa was not conducted. In 1980 Palarong Pambansa was substituted with another game called Palarong Bagong Lipunan hosted by Marikina. Between 1984 and 1987 the event's cancellation was due to the People Power Revolution.
Starting with the 2015 edition of the games, the Palarong Pambansa Board, which was created due to the Palarong Pambansa Law signed in May 2014, shall be mainly responsible for the preparation and conduct of the games. The board shall be the main policy-making and coordinating body of the annual tournament.[2]
The Palaro would be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the cancellation of the 2020 edition and the games not being held at all in 2021 and 2022. The games has returned with the hosting of the 2023 edition in Marikina.[3]
Participating regions
The regions participating in the annual Palarong Pambansa has become bigger as some regions have split. For instance, Southern Tagalog Regional Athletics Association (STRAA) represented the 10 provinces of Southern Tagalog in the later Palarong Pambansa. But it was divided into two, which is now Region 4-A or the Calabarzon region and Region 4-B or the Mimaropa region. Both are taking part in Palarong Pambansa as different teams or regions.
Creation of administrative and autonomous regions such as Bangsamoro (competing since the 2019 edition[4]) and Cordillera Administrative Region and splitting of big region into new regions like the Southern Mindanao, Central Visayas and Western Visayas causes more teams. All these reasons made the 18 regions participating in Palarong Pambansa.
A color coding system was introduced to uniquely identify each region based on their designated colors. Here are the participating regions with their assigned colors.
A total of 34 sports disciplines, including the para-games, demonstrations, and exhibition sports.[6]
It also features the Indigenous Filipino (Traditional) Games, also known as "Laro ng Lahi", the DepEd will conduct Kadang-kadang, Tumbang Preso, and Patintero on July 28, as of 2023.[7]
1 Hosting of Palarong Pambansa is from Luzon and then Visayas and then back to Luzon and then Mindanao. This order will be repeated. If Visayas have no bids to host the Palaro, then Mindanao will have the rights to host and/or vice versa. If Luzon have no bids, Metro Manila will be going to host the Palaro.
2 Negros Island Region (NIR) is a newly created region in 2015 which consists of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. Any existing previous list and records should be counted for the previous regions they are affiliated with otherwise, their records and statistics should be counted for their present region at the time of their creation unless otherwise specified.
3 In 2016, the Department of Education (DepEd) used the Olympic Medal System in determining the championship title and ranking position of each region.[19]
5After the withdrawal of Occidental Mindoro as hosts, Marikina replaced as host city for 2020, but the 2020 Palaro was cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic in the Philippines.[26] However, DepEd has announced that Marikina will retain hosting rights for the 2023 edition of the event, with Cebu City and Laoag's hosting moved to 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Medal rankings (2012-2024)
As of 16 July 2024, 11:59:59PM (UTC+8); Overall ranking of regular games since 2012[32]
cNegros Island Region (NIR) is a newly created region in 2015 which consists of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. Any existing previous list and records should be counted for the previous regions they are affiliated with.
^Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart; Philippine News Agency (July 22, 2023). "Esports to be played in Palaro '23". Philippine Canadian Inquirer. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
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