SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 17 July) – Agusan del Sur will host the Palarong Pambansa 2026, with Gov. Santiago Cane Jr. saying it is a dream come true for the province, which has been aspiring to host the premier national games for about three decades.
The declaration for Agusan del Sur to host the Palarong Pambansa 2026 was announced at the end of the closing ceremonies of Palarong Pambansa 2024 at the Cebu City Sports Complex on Tuesday night, July 16, through a video presentation by the Department of Education (DepEd).
Included in the video presentation are two other bidders – Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga City, which already hosted the same event in the past years.
Before the announcement, Cebu City Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia handed over the Palaro flag to Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Marcos-Manotoc, host of Palarong Pambansa 2025
“I have mixed emotions. I am happy that the Palarong Pambansa Board has chosen us to host the event, but there are a lot of things that need to be done to really make the Palarong Pambansa 2026 successful,” Cane said in an information officers’ program aired at 89.7 DXGP FM.
“This is dream come true and historic (for the province),” he added, as he paid tribute to the late congressman and governor Democrito O. Plaza.
Plaza first aspired to bid in the 1995 Palarong Pambansa in Lingayen, Pangasinan, which eventually hosted the event.
His son Rep. Adolph Edward Plaza, of the province’s second district, also sought to host the Palarong Pambansa in 2018 when he was still the governor.
That year, the provincial government began the upgrade of the province’s sports complex, which was completed last year amid delays during the pandemic.
The sports complex now has a fully rehabilitated 3,000-seat grandstand, rubberized track, football field with artificial grass, an Olympic-size swimming pool, air-conditioned courts for volleyball and basketball, and tennis courts, among other amenities.
It has also a 24-room hotel.
The upgraded facility was used for the first time last May 5 to 11 during the 2024 Caraga Regional Athletic Games (CRAG).
Last March, the evaluation team from DepEd Central Office inspected the 5.9-hectare Datu Lipus Makapandong DO Plaza Sports Complex in line with its bid to host the Palaro games.
Cane assured that this early, the provincial government is already “prepared,” citing the successful hosting of the 2024 CRAG.
The governor said they only need to add seven more billeting quarters for the Palaro 2026, which will have 19 delegations.
The 2024 CRAG had only 12 delegations.
“We will ask private schools to have their classrooms and facilities be part of the billeting quarters in 2026,” Cane said. (Chris V. Panganiban / MindaNews)
