The 64th Palarong Pambansa was hosted by Cebu City. But in truth and in fact, it received help from its neighboring cities and of course, the Provincial Government.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who led the opening ceremony on July 9 at the Cebu City Sports Center, took note of this Cebu unity and praised local leaders for coming together for such an important national sporting event.
“To the local government officials and the people of Cebu, thank you for making this event possible,” Pres. Marcos said in his speech, while addressing Gov. Gwen and then-Acting Mayor of Cebu City Raymond Garcia.
“It is a very great achievement that you are able to manage to put together this spectacular event on such a short time. And I know there were many sleepless nights before we consider ourselves ready for this and for that we thank you, because your warmth, your hospitality, and enthusiasm are clearly, truly remarkable,” the President added.
The Palarong Pambansa 2024 brought together approximately 41,000 delegates, including dignitaries, officials, coaches, assistant coaches, student-athletes, and other guests from 17 regions, as well as newcomers from the National Academy of Sports (NAS) and Philippine Schools Overseas (PSO).
Of the figure, a staggering 16,233 of them are athletes, 1,372 are coaches, with 859 assistant coaches — all set to compete in 35 diverse games.
While Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, City of Naga, and Carcar City hosted sports events in order to help lighten the burden on the part of Cebu City, the Capitol made a substantial donation of P8 million and made sure that the Palaro would have a much-deserved closing ceremonies, where the audience was treated to a mini-Pasigarbo sa Sugbo festival showcase.
It marked the first time in 30 years that Cebu hosted the Palarong Pambansa, and the third time overall since 1954, with the last hosting being in 1994.
(𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 2024)
