News from Home: Leyte Hosts Palarong Pambansa 2009

The Province of Leyte hosts this year's Palarong Pambansa, a competition among elementary and high school student all over the country in various sports starting April 27 to May 3, 2009. More than 20,000 delegate, coaches and school staff are set to participate this year and different schools and government facilities will be used for their accomodations. The Leyte Sports Development Center (better known as Grandstand) has been spruced up to the tune of millions where most of the sporting events such as swimming, track and field and volleyball to name a few will be held. For other games, the Badminton Republic, a private facility for paying members, the Leyte Park Hotel grounds, and the basketball gym over at the Provincial Capitol were utilized for the badminton, softball and basketball events, respectively.

Today, is the grand opening, although the games already started yesterday, with no less than Her Excellency, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Guest of Honor. Various cultural presentations representing the different towns of Leyte over at the Grandstand are expected to be culminated by a fireworks display in the evening at the RTR Park.

With all the fanfare, a fireworks of a decidedly different kind has been brewing between the DepEd, the lead government agency in charge of the event and Tacloban City officials led by Mayor Alfred Romualdez. Sol Matugas, the Regional Director for DepEd, this Region, was told by Sanggunian Panlalwigan in a signed resolution to explain, her comments on a national daily saying they (presumably the DepEd) would not need a permit for the parade on grand opening. It will be recalled that Mayor Romualdez opposed the holding of the event in the city and in fact declined to being co-host with the Province of Leyte.

With the huge number of delegates and other visitors including parents and chaperones of the athletes, Tacloban City is the direct beneficiary, economically speaking, of this year's hosting of the Palaro with all the hotels and lodging houses fully booked for the duration of the sporting competition. Bars, restaurants, coffee shops started showing a significant increase in custoners as early as a week before the start of the games when some of the delegations from the different regions started arriving. Jeepney drivers are more than happy with fully packed jeeps of commuting athletes and other delegates. And not to forget, the much needed publicity and opportunity for promoting the city and the province to the national landscape as the venue of a national event. All these make the hosting of this year's Palarong Pambansa worthwhile nothwithstanding all the backyard political feuds.