THE Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) hopes a comprehensive preparation for the 61st Palarong Pambansa will help them redeem themselves from the sting of last year’s dismal finish.
More than 600 student-athletes from Cviraa will begin their quest for medals today in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur as the national sporting meet will officially start in the Quirino Stadium in a ceremony that will be graced by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Cviraa will need to buck the odds amidst the hot and humid weather in Ilocos Sur as it aims to go up in the rankings after dropping to ninth place in Antique last year.
Dr. Juliet Jeruta, the Department of Education (DepEd) 7 director, said that they’re more confident this year since the athletes had a 20-day centralized training before going to Ilocos Sur.
“We can’t say what our target ranking is yet but we’re hoping to improve from our current ninth place. We’re more confident this time because of the unified training. We thank the local government of Cebu City for funding and initiating the unified training,” said Jeruta yesterday.
Jeruta said that they have received P10.6 million from the national office, which is the same as the other regions.
“For the local government units like Cebu City, they have dispatched personnel who are helping us here. Also, Lapu-Lapu City gave us a P200,000 check for the delegation,” she said.
Assistant Regional Director Sal Jimenez said they made sure that the athletes will be monitored in terms of their food, security and transportation this year.
The billeting centers of Region 7 at the Sta. Catalina Elementary School, Cabitaogan Elementary School and Cabitaogan National High School were equipped with an automated scanner that will monitor the food and the entry and exit of delegates.
“There’s a bar code on their IDs, so every time they go out or they eat, it’s on our computer system,” he said. “In terms of transportation, we also rented jeeps to bring the athletes, aside from the jeeps provided by the host city. I can say that we are 100 percent ready. Let’s just hope and pray that everything goes well for the team.”
For Cebu City sports coordinator Francis Ramirez, the heat in Vigan City will be the challenge for the athletes, but they prepared for that during the unified training.
“Sa unified training nato ga practice sila sa init. We emphasized this because we know that it’s very hot here in Vigan. The athletes are ready to play. We will remind them to drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration,” he said. “When we arrived in Vigan, the athletes were already on their peak and there were no more rigid trainings. It’s all just tune-ups and review of the set plays for the team games,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez said that the team’s aim now is to recover from that dismal ninth place finish, when the team garnered 20 gold medals, 18 silvers and 29 bronzes.
Davao City won the bidding for the 2019 Palarong Pambansa, beating Zamboanga Province and Misamis Occidental.