By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson assured security for participating athletes if the province wins the bid to host Palarong Pambansa 2024.
Lacson said the organizers expressed concerns over security in the province as they have received reports of encounters between government forces and the New People’s Army.
The security concerns were raised by former Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III, a member of the Palaro board.
Lacson personally presented the bid to host Palaro at the Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office in Metro Manila last week.
The governor assured the board of organizers that the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office and the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade would help secure all athletes during the national games.
He told organizers that the encounter sites were 80 kilometers away from the province’s capital, Bacolod City.
He added that skirmishes took place because government forces are aggressive in their campaign to end armed conflicts.
“The [End Local Communist Armed Conflict campaign] will not stop because we are making a bid to host the Palaro next year,” Lacson said.
The result of the bidding will be announced by DepEd Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio during the closing ceremonies of 2023 Palarong Pambansa in Marikina City on August 5.
The provincial government began renovating the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City in 2019, as it was supposed to host the Palarong Pambansa 2021.
However, the games were canceled as the country concentrated its efforts on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The budget for the renovation of the Panaad Park and Stadium was pegged at P150 million, with the track and field oval alone costing P50 million.
Negros Occidental previously hosted the Palarong Pambansa in 1971, 1974, 1979, 1998, and 2000.
Cebu City and Antique province are also bidding to host the 2024 national games.
Earlier this month, Lacson said Negros Occidental is a sports-loving province.
“We will tell them about the food, the area. I’ll tell them that it will not all be sports,” he said.
“We will have some festive mood because I will ask the local government units to open their pavilions,” he added.
Lacson said he wants to project Negros Occidental as one of the country’s top sports destinations.
In June, a technical inspection team from DepEd and the Philippine Sports Commission inspected the Panaad Park and Stadium in Negros Occidental.
The DepEd and PSC team also visited several other possible sporting venues in Bacolod, Talisay City and Murcia town./DGB, WDJ