Pole vaulting in the secondary girls’ division of athletics and pencak silat will be included in the calendar of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa this year.
Organizers from the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) confirmed this before delegates, who attended a 3-day Organizational Planning and Technical Conference held at the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel last week.
Previously, pole vault competition for high school girls and pencak silat were not in the 21-regular event list of the Games.
The sport of weightlifting and kickboxing were also included, but they will be demonstration events.
The popularity of pole vaulting and weightlifting is in part due to the success of Ernest John Obiena, who used to ranked no. 2 pole vaulter in World Athletics, and lifter Hidilyn Diaz, the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist, who achieved the feat in the Tokyo games three years ago.
Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Marcos Manotoc said that they are continuously preparing for the 2025 Palarong Pambansa since they acquired the hosting rights when it was held in Cebu City last year.
The games will be held two weeks after the national elections on May 12 and is tentatively scheduled from May 24 to June 2.
“We will be ready for you,” said Manotoc during the gathering of delegates, attended by DepEd Schools Division of Ilocos Norte sports coordinator Gene Reginaldo and PSC chairman Richard Bachmann.
The PSC and Bachmann focused on addressing all necessary mechanisms to ensure a smooth execution of the annual scholastic multi-sport competition.
Over 15,000 participants, including athletes, coaches and officials from across the country will be around for the Palaro.