Amid heavy rains, the Provincial Government of Davao del Norte welcomed about 2,000 delegates representing five regions in Mindanao to the opening this afternoon of the Cluster 4 Pre-National Qualifying Meet of the 2023 Palarong Pambansa.

Student athletes, coaches and officials from regions 10 (Northern Mindanao), 11 (Davao Region), 12 (SOCCKSARGEN), 13 (CARAGA), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) marched with gusto at the Parade of Camaraderie at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex, Tagum City.

The Pre-National Qualifying Meet is an additional tier of the Palaro introduced this year to lessen the number of delegations and reduce event duration and cost without lowering play quality.

The Mindanao Leg is the first ever Pre-National Qualifying Meet, said Education Assistant Secretary and Palarong Pambansa Secretary General Francis Cesar Bringas, who banged the Gong of Unity and Resilience to officially declare the opening of the games.

“We are so happy that it is in Mindanao where we are staging the very first ever Pre-National Qualifying Meet, which is a new stage level in the Palarong Pambansa… We thank Davao del Norte for bringing together these athletes from all over Mindanao and experience once again the camaraderie that sports brings to all of us,” he said.

Host Governor Edwin Jubahib stressed the power of sports as a tool in breaking down barriers and in building unity among the Mindanaoans.

“This is a great opportunity for us in Mindanao to unite and rally behind our shared goal and to put our region back in the history of sports, showing everyone that we are a great force to reckon with,” he said in his message, as read by Provincial Sports and Youth Development Officer Giovanni Gulanes.

He also invoked the importance of honesty, respect, trust, and teamwork, which are the foundational values inherent in sports that the event is trying to inculcate in the young generations for them to become productive citizens of the country.

The qualifying meet will only feature team sports such as baseball, basketball, football, futsal, sepak takraw, football, and volleyball, with only the top two regional delegations of the cluster which will advance to the 2023 Palarong Pambansa from July 29 to August 5, 2023 in Marikina City.

Davao del Norte's hosting of the event come on the heels of its hosting of the Davao Region Athletic Association (DAVRAA) Meet last April 23 to 28, 2023, after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Noel Baguio