Almost 450 persons are housed at the Philsports Complex and the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. On Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Butch Ramirez’s instructions, delegates seeking shelter with the agency’s dormitories are provided with accommodations, food and transportation while everyone awaits Typhoon Ompong’s exit.
In a joint statement issued today, the sports agency and the local government of Baguio City assure all participants of the Batang Pinoy Finals that all measures to ensure the safety of everyone are being undertaken.
Baguio City’s Mayor Atty Mauricio Domogan has alerted police in their area to escort all delegations going up to the City of Pines. The highway patrol will be ready to escort vehicles transporting Batang Pinoy delegates once they reach Rosario junction in La Union.
Genesis Bus Line, a partner of the PSC for this Batang Pinoy event, is supportive of the PSC and Baguio City in their efforts to keep everyone safe and comfortable by providing transportation to delegations and personnel.
Registration is on-going but shall be closed for the entire day of Saturday in view of the weather disturbance. In addition, to lessen the transaction time, coaches may now process the registration of their team on behalf of the athletes.
Ramirez stressed that the agency and Baguio City “are making every effort to make it easy, safe and comfortable for participants.”
An updated general competition schedule has already been released to guide team officials and parents on planning their team’s logistics and travel.
A mass is scheduled on Sunday morning, before all personnel, media guests and delegations travel to Baguio, a day before the official start of competitions.
“We keep the public updated through our social media pages as well as our website,” said Ramirez who earlier stated that this event will maximize use of technology in disseminating information to the public.
A hotline to answer questions regarding Batang Pinoy was also put in place in light of concerns due to the anticipated violence of the storm.