At A Glance
- GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Philippines Sports Commission and the Department of Education are mulling the possibility of streamlining the two premier national grassroots programs Batang Pinoy at Palarong Pambansa.
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Philippines Sports Commission and the Department of Education are mulling the possibility of streamlining the two premier national grassroots programs Batang Pinoy at Palarong Pambansa.
PSC chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio bared that there have been talks between the two institutions to make sure that the two grassroots competitions do not overlap.
“Dati, Batang Pinoy kay PSC yan, Palarong Pambansa kay DepEd yan. That was the decision of previous leaders, kami ho ngayon, hindi ho. Iisa lang po kami,” said Gregorio in a press conference on the opening day of the competitions here.
“Importante po na ‘di nago-overlap ang Palaro at Batang Pinoy in the soonest possible time,” he added.
Gregorio said the PSC and the DepEd are looking into streamlining the grassroot events by 2026 with no less than the sports commission chief suggesting that the two competitions should be divided based on the age groups.
“Sa ngayon po, 12-17 years old ay mayroon sa Palaro at sa Batang Pinoy ganun din. Nadodoble ‘yung resources at di natin nama-maximize yung talents,” he added.
“Pag-aaralan po natin ito for 2026. It’s a good idea na bakit hindi nalang 8-15 years old ang Batang Pinoy at 16 to 21 years old ang Palarong Pambansa? Pwedeng mabago ang age brackets pero dapat ‘di nago-overlap,” he added.
In line with this, Gregorio stressed that PSC is also strengthening its tie-up with local government units in building regional training centers for sports.
Training centers for sepak takraw and boxing are being eyed in Bukidnon while Bacolod wants football and archery.
“Before you know it, we’ll have a system of one province, one sport,” he added.