DAVAO – The Philippine Sports Commission stages the first Mindanao Children’s Games beginning today with a thousand students and out-of-school youths 13-years-old and below competing at the University of Mindanao Complex in Matina here.
“This is the children’s version of our Mindanao Friendship Games,” said PSC chair William “Butch” Ramirez, who flew to Davao City yesterday to personally oversee the conduct of the meet.
Joseph Encabo, who heads the agency’s satellite office in Mindanao, said the kids will compete in baseball, basketball, chess, football, table tennis, taekwondo, swimming and volleyball.
Encabo said athletics was scrapped in the last minute due to lack of facilities but vowed to have it re-enlisted in next year’s staging of the event also held to help promote peace in the region.
“It will be a good start for the kids because eventually they will be the good foundation of peace in the region. I think the kids will appreciate and enjoy this kind of activity,” said Encabo.
Chess is slated at the SM Davao entertainment center, swimming will be held at the Ladislawa Country Club and the rest at the University of Mindanao campus.
Cagayan de Oro, Davao Oriental, Davao Del Norte, General Santos City and even Midsayap, North Cotobato head the list of participants in the event.
The government sports agency also invited out-of-school youth from the SOS Children’s Village to join the meet.
“While this is mostly a school-based program, we wanted to open this to out-of-school youth to give them a chance to enjoy and have fun with the other kids,” Encabo said.
The PSC also hopes the event could serve as a venue for interaction between the Christian and Muslim groups, the same theme the PSC promoted in the Sports for Peace program in Midsayap where hundreds of internally displaced children underwent counseling and sports clinics.
A short opening ceremony will be held at 8 a.m. on the university campus with Ramirez as the key speaker and Davao daughter two-time Olympian diver Sheila Mae Perez as guest speaker.