BAGUIO CITY – The local governments of Baguio and Benguet are now at the height of their preparations for the hosting of the annual staging of the Batang Pinoy national finals which is scheduled on September 15-21, 2018.
To ensure the convenience of the visiting athletes and sports officials Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan ordered the committee in charge of billeting the delegates to make a final assessment on the capacity of the designated schools and to allow the inclusion of other nearby schools.
He instructed the billeting personnel and volunteers to make sure there will be adequate lighting fixtures and more importantly sufficient water supply to avoid problems that could affect the delegates’ perception of the city.
The 1,600-strong Luzon delegates and sports officials will be billeted in the various buildings of the Baguio City High School while the 1,500 Mindanao-based athletes and sports officials will be housed at the Baguio Central School, Josefa Carno Elementary School and the Pines City National High School, with Guisad Valley National High School serving as an additional billeting area if the situation warrants it.
On the other hand, the 1500 athletes and coaches who will be participating in the six events that will be held in Benguet will be billeted in the various public schools in La Trinidad. The 1,400 Visayas-based athletes and coaches will be housed at the Mabini Elementary School, Quezon Elementary School and SPED Center.
Technical personnel of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) were in Baguio and Benguet over the past several days to assess and evaluate the preparations of the host local governments for the annual staging of the Batang Pinoy national finals which is one of the biggest sports events being sanctioned by the government.
In terms of managing the expected monstrous traffic during the week-long competition and the security of the participating athletes and sports officials, the Baguio City Police office (BCPO) assured PSC and local officials that there will be a sufficient number of uniformed and non-uniformed policemen deployed in the billeting areas. Its traffic management plan will also be in place to allow smooth traffic around the city, including the roads leading to identified playing venues.
During the duration of the competition the PSC will be using around 40 vans and 40 jeepneys to ferry the athletes, coaches and sports officials from the billeting areas to their designated playing venues.
The city’s Baguio Athletic Bowl will serve as the premier playing venue of the various events while the gymnasiums of private and public institutions were also tapped to serve as sites for 21 events that be played across the different parts of the city.
Domogan expressed optimism that the different working committees will be able to address the priority concerns of their assignments the soonest. The only thing to be done for the successful hosting of the sports competition is refinement of what had been planned, to prove that Baguio and Benguet could host other bigger competitions in the future.
By Dexter A. See
