Palaro-PNG-Batang Pinoy merger under study

BACOLOD—There’s a serious effort to lump the Palarong Pambansa, Batang Pinoy and the Philippine National Games into one big sportsfest.

Commissioner Jolly Gomez of the Philippine Sports Commission said the sports agency and the Philippine Olympic Committee will soon meet with top officials of the Department of Education to consolidate the country’s grassroots development programs.

DepEd has been handling the Palaro while the just-concluded PNG held here was a joint effort of the PSC and the POC, along with the Olympic body’s national sports associations.

The Batang Pinoy, which will make a comeback in October following a seven-year hiatus, is also a multisport meet jointly staged by the PSC and POC for athletes 12 years and younger.

“We’ll try to see how we can align all our games together,” said Gomez, the PSC’s point man in the PNG.

He said the host of the unified games must have Olympic-standard facilities to accommodate the sports to be played and enough accommodations for the expected huge turnout of athletes, coaches and officials.

“We want to draw up a criteria for the host city before we start to entertain them,” said Gomez.

The Palaro has been the breeding ground of the best public elementary and secondary school athletes while the PNG is open to all athletes and national aspirants.