THE Batang Pinoy National Championships gathered more than 18,000 grassroots athletes aged 12 to 17 as the sporting conclave kicked off with an opening ceremony at the Acharon Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025.
The annual multi-sport meet, organized by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), will be held until Oct. 30, featuring 27 sports. A total of 18,741 athletes and 4,397 coaches from 188 local government units across the archipelago are taking part in the event.
Starting in the morning are the swimming and athletics events at the Antonio Acharon Sports Complex, while most of the other events will commence at their respective venues as the day progresses in the event co-presented by Yakult, MILO, Summit Drinking Watwe, Cynergy Artworks, and Pocari Sweat.
Pasig City aims to defend its crown after dethroning four-time defending champion Baguio City, last year by copping 105 golds, 64 silvers, and 116 bronze medals.
Meanwhile, host General Santos City is raring to improve on its fifth-place finish in the 2024 meet held in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
A P15-million prize pool is at stake, with P5 million earmarked for the overall champion, P4 million for second, P3 million for third, P2 million for fourth, and P1 million for fifth place.
PSC Chairman John Patrick Gregorio cited the importance of the continued development of Philippine sports in his message.
The opening ceremonies concluded with a torch relay featuring two of Mindanao’s greatest athletes — eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and Tokyo Olympics weightlifting gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo.
Diaz-Naranjo ran with the torch before handing off the torch to Pacquiao, who then lit the cauldron to officially mark the start of competition.
The 27 sports to be contested include archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, 3×3 basketball, boxing, chess, cycling, dancesport, futsal, gymnastics, jiu-jitsu, judo, kickboxing, karate, muay, pencak silat, sepak takraw, soft tennis, swimming, tennis, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, and wushu. / RSC from PSC