Baguio wins P8-M as 2nd overall PNG champ

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY -- Commissioners of the Philippine Sports Commission turned over P8 million reward of the local government after Baguio City placed second overall during the staging of the Philippine National Games in Cebu City last May.

Commissioner Ramon Fernandez handed over the check containing the amount to Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan during the Mayor’s Night that followed the closing ceremonies of the 2018 Batang Pinoy national championships here Sept.17-21.         Witnessing the turnover of the city’s cash reward were PSC Commissioners Celia Kiram and Arnold Agustin who joined  PSC officials in interacting with local officials.

Baguio city placed second to Cebu in the overall rankings of the PNG held in Cebu last May wherein President Rodrigo R. Duterte vowed to double the cash reward being given by the PSC to the winners of the national games.

Baguio City received P4 million from the PSC while the other P4 million came from the office of the President pursuant to the promise of the Chief Executive when spoke during the PNG opening ceremonies.

 For the top 5 placers of the Batang Pinoy national championships hosted by Baguio city, the overall champion will receive a P3 million cash prize, the second placer will be entitled to P2.5 million, the third placer will be awarded P2 million, the fourth placer will be provided P1.5 million and the fifth placer will be given P1 million based on the standards imposed by the PSC.

Mayor Domogan expressed his gratitude to the PSC for selecting Baguio city as this year’s host for the Batang Pinoy national championships that demonstrated the ability of the local government to host big local, regional, national and even international sports competitions in the future.

He thanked PSC Commissioners for personally bringing to the city its cash reward for the May 2018 PNG held in Cebu city.

 The local chief executive claimed he will convene the City Sports Development Council to discuss what will be the priority programs and projects on sports using the P8 million cash reward to help advance sports development among the city’s youth as contribution to a national pool of talents from the grassroots level who can compete at any level.

While the PSC has yet to announce the overall champion in the recently concluded Batang Pinoy national championships, Domogan expressed confidence Baguio City will retain the overall crown because of the 83 gold, 81 silver and 107 bronze medals local athletes garnered from the 28 sports events that were held in Baguio and Benguet during the week-long sports competition, thus, the P3 million cash prize for the champion will be added to the existing P8 million cash prize which will surely go a long way in the implementation of sustainable sports programs for the city. -- Dexter A. See