Cebu City sets aside P200 milyon for Palaro

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City government has allocated P200 million for the staging of the Palarong Pambansa 2024, which may happen around the third quarter of the year, depending on the final school year calendar.

“Ang gipangayo sa Executive (Department) was P200 million and it was approved by the City Council. Of course, it went to the (Cebu City) Sports Commission (CCSC),” said City Councilor Donaldo “Dondon” Hontiveros, in an interview yesterday.

Hontiveros heads the City Council’s committee on education, science, and technology and the vice chairman of the committee on youth and sports development.

He said he was thankful that his fellow city councilors approved the amount he had requested for inclusion in the 2024 annual budget for the Palarong Pambansa.

“The other departments, na-slash, but not the budget for the Palarong Pambansa,” he said.

In a press conference that immediately followed the formal signing of an agreement for Cebu City hosting this year’s Palarong Pambansa, CCSC Chairman John Pages said the bulk of the P200 million will go to the refurbishment of the 30-year-old Cebu City Sports Center.

The agreement signing, made between the Department of Education (DepEd), represented by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, and the city government, represented by Mayor Michael Rama, happened yesterday morning at the City Hall Community Hall.

“It’s a substantial amount that covers many areas, including improvement of facilities,” Pages said.

In particular, the sports center’s rubberized track is replaced while a warm up pool had been added to the current Olympic-size pool. The multi-purpose gym and other areas and offices in the CCSC will also undergo a facelift.

Aside from the sports center, improvements would also be done in other sporting facilities that would be used for the Palaro.

The city government is also set to upgrade the schools that will be utilized as billeting area for the thousands of student athletes.

Equipment, among other items, would likewise be purchased by the city government for the Palaro, as it bids to make the annual sporting event “world-class,” one that conform with international standards.

 Asec. Francis Cesar Bringas, Palarong Pambansa secretary general, on the other hand, said in the same press conference that DepEd would also shell out for the Palaro, but mostly for the participating regions as well as for the billeting quarters and sports equipment, as a counterpart commitment to that of the LGU.

Pages said the city government is also planning to do provide livestreaming of all sporting events in the Palaro for the benefit of family members who cannot watch the action live.

Hontiveros said the P200 million also covers expenses of related activities leading to and after the Palaro.

“Ang gusto man gyud ni mayor nga two weeks to hype up the Palaro and a week after,” he said.

The post-Palaro activities are meant to promote the city, among others, to the visitors, in coordination with the Cebu provincial government.

“That’s the direction of the mayor nga not only Cebu City but also Cebu Province. Naay activities also after the Palaro. Same thing that he did with the Sinulog 2024,” Hontiveros said.

Mayor Rama’s strained relationship with Gov. Gwen Garcia, while not really obvious, was put in the spotlight during the agreement signing, when Duterte joked that Garcia supports Cebu City hosting the Palaro but not him.

“Suportado ni governor ang Palarong Pambansa, si Mayor Rama dili,” she said, grinning, before turning on her back to drink from her water bottle.

Rama, simply laughed the joke off and continued listening to the vice president, who narrated that while Rama and Garcia had called her about Cebu City’s hosting bid, she never dared influence the selection process.

“Sige lang gyud kog ampo sa Sto. Niño nga mudaog gyud ang Cebu. Pagkahuman, nahuman na ang proseso, I was not part of it, I never joined any meetings, nangutana ko, ‘kinsa may nidaog?’ Cebu…. Nakaana gyud ko’g, ‘hay salamat Lord! Thank you Sto. Niño, daghang salamat’,” she said.  (CEBU NEWS)