Negros Island Region: We are 100% ready for Palaro 2016

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Negros Island Region (NIR), which is a newly created region that will be competing for the 59th Palarong Pambansa for the first time, is 100% ready and confident that its athletes will take center stage in the national sporting competition.

According to Department of Education (DepEd)-NIR Regional Director Gilbert Sadsad, “Although this is the first time, we will do our best to compete [with the other regions]. We are ready [and] we are vying for championship.”

In January, DepEd Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC said this year’s staging of the Palaro will have many “firsts.” 

Luistro said that, “I want to highlight that this is Albay’s first ever hosting of the Palaro. This is also the first time that 18 regions will take action—not the usual 17 regions—because of the participation of the Negros Island Region,” he explained.

NIR’s athletes have undergone series of trainings, one of which is the 25-day training from March 1 to March 28. 

“We conducted concentration (trainings) financed by the local government of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and some cities, that also extended financial assistance to the athletes during the training for 25 days,” Sadsad said.

The said training was separately conducted in Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Dumaguete City.

NIR will send 747 official delegates, including student-athletes, coaches, and other regional officials; of which, 481 are student-athletes. 

Sadsad said that NIR will also be fielding participants to the special games.

One of the highlights of the Palaro is the special games for children with special needs. These include athletics, swimming, goal ball, and Bocce – a ball sport closely related to bowling. Athletes with special needs are given the chance to be scouted and compete in the games of the Palaro.

Student-athletes from NIR have already been given the allowance, equipment, and vitamins they need for the competition.

The region’s official delegation will arrive in Albay Province on April 4. Sadsad said the NIR is planning to conduct continuous trainings in the host province.

DepEd hands over new classroom buildings to schools in Negros Oriental

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In its unceasing drive to universalize kindergarten education, the Department of Education (DepEd) has built seven (7) new kindergarten classroom buildings in Negros Oriental through the help of Aklat, Gabay, Aruga tungo sa Pag-angat at Pag-asa (AGAPP) Foundation, and Asian Development Bank-Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (ADB-JFPR).

“One of the first programs of the Aquino administration was universalizing kindergarten to which the AGAPP foundation urgently volunteered to help,” Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC said.

He added that the AGAPP Foundation has continued to aid the Department in addressing classroom needs for the past four years and that they “do not only build classrooms but also foster hope among the learners.”

AGAPP Foundation chairperson Pinky Aquino-Abellada said, “These efforts by the AGAPP Foundation are all for the benefit of our Negrense learners. We thank all our donors for their endless support to education.” She underscored the continuous effort of the AGAPP foundation in building more classrooms in the province. 

Furthermore, she urged the parents and teachers to continue working together, saying "Tulung-tulong po tayo para makamit ng mga bata ang kanilang mga pangarap."

ADB-JFPR Senior Advisor Tatsuya Kanai emphasized that the erected classroom buildings are a result of the efforts of many – the government, the private partners and the residents of the beneficiary provinces.

Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo expressed his gratitude to DepEd, the AGAPP foundation, & ADB-JFPR in building classrooms in the province. 

Seven (7) schools benefitted from the newly built Silid Pangarap buildings-- Okiot Elementary School, Bais Science ES, Sto. Tomas ES, San Miguel ES, Sta. Catalina ES, Candugay ES, and Maloh ES.

“Sana po patuloy na magbigay ng pag-asa at kulay ang lahat ng mga proyektong ito sa ating mga estudyante, pati na rin sa mga magulang na nagpapadala ng kanilang mga anak sa paaralan,” Luistro said.

The education chief further mentioned that aside from the colorful Silid Pangarap buildings, the AGAPP foundation likewise provides feeding programs for learners and trainings for teachers.

"Sa mga classrooms na ito, makikita na natin ang katuparan ng ating mga pangarap," he added

(Photos: Adolf Aguilar)