PUERTO PRINCESA – The search for the new generation of local sports heroes and heroines begins anew on Sunday as the 16th Batang Pinoy National Championships unfold at the Ramon V. Mitra Jr. Sports Complex and surrounding venues here.
All 30 sports swing into action in the flagship grassroots sports fest organized by the Philippine Sports Commission and supported by the Puerto Princesa City government led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron.
The centerpiece and medal-rich sports of athletics and swimming will start rolling over at the sports complex named after the late former House Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr. while other disciplines will be staged in and around the picturesque coastal city.
Ushering in the meet Saturday was a colorful opening ceremony held at the RVM Sports Complex featuring a tableau of cultural dances highlighting the regions of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and a parade of the slightly over 15,000 athletes and officials who will take part in the week-long age group competition.
“We would like to thank the Puerto Princesa City government led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron since our partnership with them has been seamless. Who would not want to do this with them again,” noted PSC Chairman Richard Bachmann at the press conference prior to the Batang Pinoy National Championships.
“We are grateful to the PSC for its trust in allowing us to host the Batang Pinoy Nationals once more,” responded Bayron at the same briefing in staging the meet again after it was held in the Palawan provincial capital previously in 2002 and 2019.
Bachmann said that he visited some of the billeting in the schools where the Batang Pinoy delegates are being quartered and was satisfied by what he saw in how well the local officials were addressing their requirements and needs.
The PSC chief said he had also taken steps to ensure that the stipends of the athletes would be taken care of, with the PSC executive director and project chief Paolo Francisco Tatad saying that they expect to finish the matter within two days.
Tatad said that the government sports agency would have wanted to heed the clamor of the National Sports Associations by adding more disciplines to the championships “but having three major competitions one after the other such as the National Para Games, Batang Pinoy and BIMP-EAGA meet has strained our personnel and resources.”
On the other hand Puerto Princesa sports chief Atty. Rocky Austria said that he was hopeful that the more than 200 athletes they were fielding in the youth sports showcase would deliver.
“We have an ordinance that enables the city to give cash incentives to our Batang Pinoy achievers,” said Austria, revealing that the city’s gold medalists would receive a bonus of P50,000 each, silver, P30,000 and P20,000 for bronze.
“Mayor Bayron and I would be happy if Puerto Princesa made it to the top 10 of the overall standings,” he said.
