The 2019 Batang Pinoy will have Davao del Norte, Isabela and Iloilo as hosts of the Mindanao, Luzon and Visayas legs.
The memorandum-of-agreement with the Philippine Sports Commission will be signed on Friday.
PSC Chairman William Ramirez is leading the formal signing together with Davao del Norte Governor Antonio del Rosario, Ilagan, Isabela Mayor Evelyn Diaz, Iloilo City Mayor Jose Espinosa III and Iloilo Provincial Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. at the PSC Press Conference Room, Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Manila.
“We are sealing this partnership with our host LGUs to ensure mutual cooperation and achieve a successful staging of Batang Pinoy from Mindanao, Visayas and to Luzon,” said Ramirez.
For this year, the PSC’s national youth sporting event for 15 years old and below is starting its first leg in Mindanao on Feb. 2 to 9 in Tagum City, Davao del Norte, then in Iloilo on Feb. 23 to March 2 and Luzon from March 16 to 23 in Ilagan, Isabela.
The agency chief added that the dates for Batang Pinoy was scheduled in such a ways as “to avoid inclement weather conditions which were experienced last year.”
Baguio City and Benguet Province co-hosted the national championships of Batang Pinoy last year which saw Typhoon Ompong hurtling through the north and affecting the schedule of events and resulting to the pull-out of some delegations due to safety concerns.