It’s official: Davao City is host of 2019 Palarong Pambansa

DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones is joined by Undersecretaries Revsee Escobedo and Annalyn Sevilla, Assistant Secretary G.H. Ambat, Philippine Sports Commission Chair William Ramirez, Davao City Administrator Zuleika Lopez, and UP Mindanao Campus Vice Chancellor for Administration Luzviminda Aurelia Gomez during the ceremonial signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the hosting of the 2019 Palarong Pambansa / Photo from DepEd

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) and the City Government of Davao have officially signed the memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the hosting of the 2019 Palarong Pambansa.

In a statement on Monday, DepEd said the MOA was inked by Secretary Leonor Briones and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

The 2019 Palarong Pambansa anchored on the theme, “Shaping the Future through Sports,” is slated from April 27 to May 4.

Davao City will host this year’s event alongside its Schools Division Office (SDO) and DepEd Region XI.

DepEd said this year’s national sporting event will introduce two side events – Larong Pinoy and Sports Heroes Day.

Larong Pinoy, also known as the Philippine Indigenous Games, aims to strengthen and revive the traditional Pinoy games such as kadang-kadang, patintero, hilahang lubid, and karera ng sako.

It will be played by DepEd Executive Committee members, DepEd Sports Officials, local government unit (LGU) representatives, and sports icons.

Meanwhile, young athletes will have the opportunity to personally interact with their sports idols and icons through Sports Heroes Day.

DepEd Region XI will manage Larong Pinoy, while DepEd-Youth Formation Division and SDO Davao City will be in charge of Sports Heroes Day. Both events will take place on April 28.

Prior to the signing of the MOA, three provinces placed their respective bids to host this year’s Palarong Pambansa: Davao City, Zamboanga Del Sur, and Misamis Occidental. /kga