The Indigenous Peoples Games - Visayas Leg gets going over the weekend at the Manuel Torres Sports Complex in Bago City, Negros Occidental.

The showpiece will be graced by the PSC Chairman Richard Bachmann, who expressed his full support to the program aimed to promote inclusivity through sports and give a platform for all members of the society to showcase the sport they love.

“This is the PSC’s way of taking good care of the welfare of our aspiring athletes coming from the minorities. It is among our top priority to deliver the value of sports in taking up a genuine cause for our IP communities,” Chairman Bachmann stated.

The IP Games in Bago City will be the second edition for this year after the Luzon leg which took place in the Municipality of Salcedo in Ilocos Sur.

More than 300 IP members are joining the event and 17 local government units (LGUs) from Negros Occidental will be participating in the said event including the cities of Kabankalan, San Carlos, Bago , Cadiz,  Sagay, Sipalay, Himamaylan, Silay, and Talisay.

Also sending their delegates are the municipalities of Isabela,   Binalbagan,  Hinoba-a, Don Salvador Benedicto, Calatrava, Candoni, Ilog, and Cauayan.

To ensure the smooth conduct of the program, Comm. Matthew “Fritz” Gaston who is in-charge of the IP Games, kept close coordination with the Bago CIty LGU,  Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives (IPMRs), and partner agencies including the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

“We would like to acknowledge our LGU partner and host, Bago City, Negros Occidental, headed by Mayor Nicholas Yulo, together with Vice Mayor Ramon Torres, for wholeheartedly accepting the invitation to hold the Visayas leg of the IP Games this year in Bago City”, said Comm. Gaston.

The IP Forum will also be included within the two-day program which will discuss the importance of IP communities and express encouragement among the young generations to promote local culture. The games will also be open to photography enthusiasts in taking snaps of the moments for the IP Photo Contest.

The General Santos City is set as host for the Mindanao leg to be held late of October, in time with the celebration of the Indigenous Peoples’ Month.