PUERTO PRINCESA — Literally, the heat is on here. With the arrival of summer, the barometers are soaring high in this city But more than experiencing the rise in temperature, city folks and their guests are starting to feel the excitement of hosting for the first time the Palarong Pambansa, apparently the biggest-ever sporting event in this city, which has hosted various international and national events in the past.

The Palaro will be held here April 20-26 with more than 15,000 guests expected, including about 8,000 athletes and coaches representing 17 delegations.

The hosting of the games is in keeping with the thrust of Mayor Edwad Hagedorn to make Puerto Princesa a sports tourism destination in the country. And also in line with his leadership‘s thrust of promoting environmental protection, the Puerto is building up its image as “A City in the Forest”.

The Palaro calendars 31 events – 17 in the secondary and 14 in elementary level which will be played in 13 venues, including the newly-refurbished city stadium. Alroben Goh, city information officer, said the local government has spent about P60 million in the infrastructure requirements of the games that serve as a venue for the discovery of future national athletes. Among the events to be played at the city stadium complex are athletics, football, volleyball and swimming.

This week, the city will have a dry run of the big event when it hosts the regional MIMAROPA, or the Mindoro-Marinduque-Romblon-Palawan athletic association meet.

While the city has dozens of hotels and pension houses, usually occupied by eco-tourists exploring the wonders of the island-province, it appears that as early as January, the rooms have already been taken, posing problems for visitors who are making reservations ‘rather late’.

The Western Visayas delegation will be billeted in the Manalo Campus of Palawan State University , the biggest tertiary-level institution in the city. The Manalo campus houses the laboratory, or grade, school department of the university.

With the start of the MIMNAROPA games, the renovations of the venues have been completed.

Former councilor Goh also disclosed that, to avert a similar incident of high casualties of the heat wave in the Koronadal Palaro in 2007, the opening program will be held late in the afternoon to help ensure the safety and health of the athletes and officials.        AVDC