The main venue of Batang Pinoy 2022, the President Elpidio Quirino Stadium in Bantay, Ilocos Sur, is unaffected by a series of typhoons recently and an earthquake that rocked the province of Abra and nearby provinces late Tuesday.
Philippine Sports Commission chairman Jose Emmanuel “Noli” Eala and Province of Ilocos Sur Governor Jeremias “Jerry” Singson made this assurance on Thursday as they formally signed a Memorandum of Agreement on the staging of the Batang Pinoy 2022. (See related story on C2)
“OK naman po iyung mga facilities doon. Well maintained naman po kahit kahit na nalindol at nabagyo tayo,” said Singson during the signing ceremony at at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Vito Cruz, Manila.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked the province of Abra on late Tuesday evening, with the epicenter at Tineg, Abra, and with aftershocks felt in Vigan.
Northern Luzon has been hit by at least six strong typhoons and authorities have managed to keep the stadium from getting any serious damage.
“Sana hindi na maulit ito (earthquake). Matagal na pong pinaghandaan ito at na-coordinate ito. In-assure naman kami na hindi ito naapektuhan ng kalamidad,” said Eala.
The multi-sports event was to be held in Ilocos Sur from December 4 to 10, but was moved to Dec. 17 to 22, following a request from the Department of Education.
Eala said the schedules of the games were moved in consultation with the DepEd, which said that no extracurricular activity involving student-athletes will done during school days.
The Quirino Stadium was last used in 2018 when the province hosted the Palarong Pambansa.
For now, the PSC won’t be holding a lot of face-to-face competitions since this will be the first time the Batang Pinoy National Youth Games will be back in action after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seventeen sports disciplines will be played in the games, with only nines event to be contested in a face-to-face format, namely archery, athletics, badminton, chess, cycling, table tennis, swimming, weightlifting and obstacle course racing (demonstration sport).
Online and virtual contests will go on in eight disciplines like arnis, dancesport, judo, karate, muay, pencak silat, taekwondo and wushu.
A total of 1,830 medals will be at stake in the six-day sportsfest, consisting of 600 gold, 600 silver and 630 bronze medals.