By Waylon Galvez
CEBU CITY – Displaying its might right from the start, host Cebu City won the overall title in the 9th edition of the Philippine National Games (PNG) in emphatic fashion yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Complex here.
Though competitions in arnis, badminton, boxing, chess, dancesports and volleyball have yet to be completed, the host is already assured of the overall title with 38 gold, 51 silver and 58 bronze medals.
The winning team, or the LGU (local government unit), will receive P10 million – P5 million from President Duterte and P5 million from the Philippine Sports Commission.
The second placer will receive P8 million, third P6 million, fourth P4 million and fifth P2 million.
Baguio City is at second with 34-32-40, followed by Mandaluyong City (23-13-16), General Santos City (16-22-7) and Zamboanga City (14-6-13) in this multi sports meet that saw 92 LGUs participate in 16 sports disciplines.
Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Edward Hayco, however, said it was not just all skills and talent as athletes from Cebu City played with lots of passion and heart.
“For us, puso (heart) comes first, medals will follow later. That’s our philosophy,” said Hayco.
Former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist OJ Santos led Cebu City’s charge as he won in karate while Ronette Ayuda, Joselou Rebalde, Prince Lee and Dexter Tabique bagged gold medals in the athletics and weightlifting.
