Marikina with a strong bid to host 2012 Palarong Pambansa

MANILA, Philippines – Next year’s Palarong Pambansa has a strong bidder in Marikina City, the first time the games could be held within the walls of perennial champion National Capital Region.

Commissioner Jolly Gomez of the Philippine Sports Commission said Marikina, the country’s shoe capital, has met the standards of the Palaro staging as far as facilities and safety equipment for athletes are concerned.

Spearheaded by the Department of Education, the hosting of the nationwide games for outstanding elementary and high school athletes is a three-cornered fight among Sta. Cruz, Laguna, Lingayen, Pangasinan and Marikina.

“We’re definitely ready for the Palaro. Compared to venues in the provinces, our facilities are more advanced,” said Marikina City Mayor Del De Guzman during Tuesday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s UN Avenue.

Marikina boasts of a sprawling sports complex, which includes a track and field oval and a swimming pool of Olympic standards.

Adjacent to the complex is an eight-story building that houses a variety of indoor sports while several nearby hotels could accommodate the expected influx of 10,000 athletes and officials from 17 regions.

“We’ve evaluated these facilities and they definitely met the criteria,” said Gomez.

De Guzman has proposed a P60-million budget for the hosting of the Palaro, which was never held outside of the provinces since its inception in 1974.

Marikina was supposed to host the Palaro in 1980 but was cancelled.

Quezon City was the last NCR host of a grassroots, nationwide meet back in the 1966 Bureau of Public School Interscholastic Athletics Association games, Palaro’s forerunner.

Flood-prone, Marikina is prepared to respond to such calamity after coming up with disaster-preparedness training programs for its citizenry, according to De Guzman.

De Guzman is also looking at Ateneo, UP and another gym in Pasig City as satellite venues for the Palaro aside from the Marikina Sports Complex.