ILOILO City – Iloilo was the overall champion in the recently concluded Western Visayas Regional Athletics Association (WVRAA) Meet 2023 held in Aklan from April 26 to 30.
It bagged a total of 229 gold, 154 silver and 100 bronze medals for both for elementary and secondary’s regular events, demo sports, and paragames, based on the official results released by the Department of Education (DepEd) Region 6.
Below is the official result in each category.
Regular events (elementary)
* champion – Iloilo with 149 medals (69 golds, 50 silvers and 30 bronzes)
* first runner-up – Negros Occidental with 151 medals (59 golds, 52 silvers and 40 bronzes)
* second runner-up – Aklan with 80 medals (nine golds, 22 silvers and 49 bronzes)
Regular events (secondary)
* champion – Iloilo with 225 medals (103 golds, 69 silvers and 53 bronzes)
* first runner-up – Negros Occidental with 242 medals (88 golds, 85 silvers and 69 bronzes)
* second runner-up – Aklan with 103 medals (23 golds, 36 silvers, and 44 bronzes)
Paragames
* champion – Iloilo with 69 medals (40 golds, 20 silvers and nine bronzes)
* first runner-up – Negros Occidental with 56 medals (19 golds, 28 silvers and nine bronzes)
* second runner-up – Aklan with 22 medals (three golds, four silvers and 15 bronzes)
Demo sports (elementary)
* champion – Iloilo with 12 medals (four golds, seven silvers and one bronzes)
* first runner-up – Negros Occidental with four medals (all golds)
* second runner-up – Antique with eight medals (one silver and seven bronzes)
Demo sports (secondary)
* champion – Iloilo with 28 medals (13 golds, eight silvers, and seven bronzes)
* first runner-up – Aklan with 14 medals (seven golds, two silvers and five bronzes)
* second runner-up – Antique with 17 medals (two golds, one silver and 14 bronzes)
DepEd 6 thankful to LGUs and partners
Hernani Escullar Jr., information officer of DepEd 6, said the WVRAA Meet 2023 with the theme, “Championing Excellence Through Sports,” was a success.
“It was a success. Daku ang pagpasalamat sang aton regional director, Dr. Ramir Uytico, sa strong partnership naton with the LGUs [local government units], especially the province of Aklan, because they provided all the needs and necessary assistance agud nga aton events mangin successful,” said Escullar in an interview with Panay News yesterday.
With the support of the province, especially the host municipalities, the sports events were not affected by the regionwide power interruption last week.
DepEd 6 also thanked the Philippine National Police for ensuring that no untoward incidents occurred during the sporting events.
DepEd 6 also recognized the prompt response of the personnel of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Aklan in case some delegates needed medical attention.
Escullar said during the opening ceremony on April 26 at the Aklan Sports Complex in Barangay Calangcang, Makato town, more or less 20 delegates felt unwell due to the heat but were immediately given proper medical attention.
A total of 4,895 delegates participated in the WVRAA Meet 2023:
* Aklan – 742
* Capiz – 732
* Guimaras – 388
* Iloilo – 750
* Negros Occidental – 857
* Antique – 746
* Technical officials and technical working group – 680
What’s next?
Escullar said winners for individual, measurable, combative, and rocket sports during the WVRAA 2023 will automatically be qualified for the Palarong Pambansa this coming July 29 to Aug. 5 in Marikina City.
But for the seven team sports – baseball, softball, football, volleyball, basketball, futsal, and sepak takraw – athletes will be competing in a Pre-Palaro activity in Cebu City this June.
The Pre-Palaro activity aims to reduce the number of delegations and minimize the number of days of activities during the Palarong Pambansa, which will be participated in by 18 regions.
The modified competition format also aims to prevent the disruption of classes and observe minimum public health and safety protocols.
Delegations will be clustered into four groups based on their geographical location. Cluster 1 is comprised of the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR); Cluster 2 is CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, National Capital Region, and Bicol Region; Cluster 3 is Western, Central and Eastern Visayas, and Zamboanga Peninsula; and Cluster 4 is Northern Mindanao, Davao, SOCCKSARGEN, CARAGA, and BARMM.
The top two regional delegations per cluster will then advance to the Palarong Pambansa. (With a report from the Department of Education)/PN
