COTABATO CITY — The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is sending 400 delegates to this year’s Palarong Pambansa starting April 15 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, an education official today said.
Lawyer Rasol Mitmug Jr., regional secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd-ARMM), said his office is supporting sports program as another way for students to strive to become better individuals.
“The student-athletes from ARMM are expected to persevere so they can win medals,” Mitmug said in a statement.
This year, ARMM is participating in 21 sports events namely arnis, athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, futsal, sepak takraw, softball, table tennis, lawn tennis, wrestling, wushu, billiards, archery, pencak silat, taekwondo, baseball, boxing, football and swimming.
Last year’s lone medalist, Taekwondo black belt Ricco Jame Teraytay, 17, will lead the 2018 ARMM delegation. Teraytay is hoping ARMM athletes will bag more gold medals in various sports discipline as the regional government had strengthened its support to sports.
“We now have the regional government’s support and this will encourage us to do better, win more medals to give honor to ARMM,” Teraytay said.
Mitmug added that aside from financial and material support from the regional government, the provincial governments from five areas of ARMM are also helping.
Mitmug said DepEd is pursuing the “club system” program that will identify the expertise of each school as well as the “after school program” where athletes are trained further instead of doing unnecessary extra-curricular activities during vacation.
The DepEd secretary said more interventions are in the pipeline to prepare ARMM athletes in regional and national sports competition.
Amid conflicts in ARMM, athletes are determined to regularly practice and hone their skills to become more competitive.
“They experienced defeats in the past Palaro and that gave them the lesson to strive more, hoping one day, medals will keep pouring for them,” Mitmug said.
Eighteen regions are competing in the annual sports event organized by DepEd and participated by students from elementary and secondary levels from private and public schools. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
