Albay Palaro under way; 36 events on tap

Bicol Regional Athletic Association (BRAA) and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) football teams practice at Bicol University Sports Complex, Legazpi City in Albay province, April 9, 2016, before the opening of the Palarong Pambansa 2016 competition.  NINO JESUS ORBETA

LEGAZPI CITY—The province famous for its majestic but deadly Mayon Volcano makes its maiden hosting of the Palarong Pambansa starting today in this capital city.

No less than President Aquino has been invited to grace the opening ceremony at Bicol University Sports Complex and welcome the expected 14,000 student-athletes from 18 regions to the Albay Palaro.

The opening rites start at 4 p.m. after a parade that will begin two hours and capped by a torch run through the city. Hotels were fully booked even in the nearby town of Daraga and flights coming from Manila were all blocked off since last week.

National Capital Region, which has won the overall title for the past 11 years, will lead the sporting rivalry along with perennial challengers Calabarzon and Western Visayas.

Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have been merged to form a new region, Negros Island Region, which will banner athletes from Bacolod and Dumaguete.

There will be 15 sports on tap in the elementary level and 21 in the high school. Demonstration games will also be played including futsal, wrestling and wushu.

Gov. Joey Salceda, has tapped its renowned disaster preparedness teams to secure the estimated 40,000 participants. There will also be 828 emergency responders and one health station in each of the regional billeting center.