FILE–Torch lighting during the opening of the 2023 Palarong Pambansa. –DEPED PHOTO
Farewell Marikina, welcome Cebu City.
The Palarong Pambansa caravan will move over to the Queen City of the South next year after organizers and athletes of this year’s edition bid the hosting of Marikina City adieu.
Cebu City got the nod of the Department of Education, the chief organizer of the annual Palaro, beating 2017 host Antique and Negros Occidental in the bidding.
The premier sports event of student-athletes in the elementary and secondary ranks from the 18 regions of the country will go to Cebu for the third time in history after the latter staged the Palaro twice in 1954 and 1994.
The hosting rights of the biggest scholastic sports gathering annually follow a Luzon-Visayas-Luzon-Mindanao rotation principle with Ilocos Norte securing the 2025 staging as officially announced by the DepEd during Saturday’s closing ceremony at the Marikina Sports Complex.
Ilocos Norte is the province of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
2023 PALARONG PAMBANSA FINAL MEDAL TALLY
This year in Marikina City, National Capital Region ruled Palarong Pambansa for the 21st consecutive edition after amassing 85 gold medals, 74 silvers and 55 bronzes.
Western Visayas placed second overall with 60 golds, 45 silvers and 44 bronzes and Calabarzon ended up third with a 52-52-57 tally at the end of the week-long games.