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| The Department of Education announces the 2023 Palarong Pambansa, set to take place in Marikina City from July 29 to August 5, with a new pre-national qualifying meet. |
The Department of Education (DepEd) announced that the 2023 Palarong Pambansa, a multi-sport competition, will take place from July 29 to August 5, 2023, in Marikina. It will be hosted by the local government of Marikina, DepEd-National Capital Region (NCR) Office, and Marikina City Schools Division Office (SDO).
This year's edition of the annual event marks its return after being canceled for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to DepEd Memorandum No. 5, s. 2023, the Palarong Pambansa Secretariat recommends that the Division and Regional Meets take place from February 6-10 and April 24-28. In addition, a new tier called the Pre-National Qualifying Meet has been introduced to reduce the number of delegations, streamline the competition, and cut costs without compromising the quality of the games.
The new tier will feature only team sports such as baseball, basketball, football, futsal, sepak takraw, and volleyball. The delegations will be divided into four groups based on geographical location. Cluster 1 includes the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR); Cluster 2 includes CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, NCR, and Bicol Region; Cluster 3 includes Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula Region; and Cluster 4 includes Northern Mindanao, Davao, SOCCKSARGEN, CARAGA, and BARMM. The top two delegations from each cluster will advance to the actual Palarong Pambansa.
The new competition format aims to minimize class disruptions while implementing minimum public health and safety protocols mandated by DepEd Order No. 34, Section 2022, and other related policies and guidelines. Individual sports such as athletics, swimming, and archery will use qualifying distances, times, and points established by the Palarong Pambansa.
Other sports that do not require qualifying standards in the selection of athletes and are not recognized as team sports will continue to be part of the Palarong Pambansa culminating competitions.
Aside from student-athletes from 17 DepEd regional athletic associations, Filipino athletes enrolled in recognized schools abroad under the Philippine Schools Overseas (PSOs) can also participate in individual sports. The technical guidelines for all sports will be released in a separate memorandum in accordance with Section 27, Rule VI of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Republic Act (RA) 10588 or the Palarong Pambansa Act of 2013.