Patafa prepping for Ilocos Palaro

The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) is making its final inspection to make sure that the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium in Laoag, Ilocos Norte will be ready to host the 65th Palarong Pambansa.

Patafa official Jeanette Obiena said they will have a technical meeting on 30 April to inspect the venue ahead of the prestigious multi-sport event for elementary and high school students on 24 May.

“We will have the final technical consultation meeting by 30th this month. So we’re still finalizing everything for the games,” Obiena said.

“They’re still working on it, so we’ll be seeing it after the final technical meeting.”

Obiena said they are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the mishap during last year’s edition of the Palaro in Cebu City will not happen again.

In the 64th Palaro, several potential athletics records were not recognized as the 400-meter track oval at the Cebu City Sports Complex was found to be short by 0.88 meters.

Obiena said the Laoag stadium was erected in 2022 so there’s a good chance that the setback will not happen again.

Also, Laoag City Mayor Michael Keon, whose Gintong Alay project spawned numerous athletics legends such as Isidro del Prado and the late Lydia de Vega, inspected the venue last March for the Region 1 Athletic Association.

In a previous interview, Keon also floated the idea of honoring De Vega in the opening ceremony of the Palaro to honor her achievements for the country.

De Vega got her start in the biggest annual multi-sport tournament for elementary and secondary students before becoming a nine-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, a two-time Asian Games champion, and a four-time Asian Athletics Championships gold medalist. She is also a two-time Olympian after competing in Los Angeles in 1984 and in Seoul in 1988.

“That’s something we can think of because she was also a Palaro standout,” Keon said.