There will be 601 athletes from Western Visayas who will compete in all sporting events at the Palarong Pambansa in Cebu on July 11 to 17.
Department of Education-6 spokesperson Hernani Escullar said they will be traveling to Cebu this weekend, July 6 to 7, in preparation for the national games.
Escullar said the 601 athletes include 214 for the elementary games, 346 – secondary, and 41 for the paragames, who are aiming for more golds this year.
Last year, Western Visayas ranked second next to the National Capital Region and Escullar said that they already provided all the needs of the athletes to ensure that they will be consistent with last year’s performance or even surpass NCR.
“We are very hopeful to rank first this year”, he said, adding “We believe that they [athletes] can bag the most number of golds in the Palaro”.
The region’s delegation will be composed of about 933 members, which includes the athletes, 136 coaches, and 196 from the management and technical working group.
An advance committee is already at the Guadalupe Elementary School in Cebu, where the WV delegation will be housed during the week-long games.
The sporting events will be held in various venues around Cebu City and in neighboring cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue, Escullar added.*