ARCHERS Adrian Jessie Magbojos of Sta. Rosa City, Miguel Adrian Carlos of Puerto Princesa City, Pangasinan and Art Joe Cabatan of Davao de Oro and Hailey Bolico of Pasig City—both six years old—received the Milo Batang Pinoy Pursigido Awards for their outstanding performances in the recent Philippine Sports Commission (PSC)-Batang Pinoy National Championships that Ilocos Norte recently hosted in Vigan City and Bantay.
Magbojos and Carlos were hailed as the most bemedaled female and male athletes, respectively, while Pangasinan was recognized for sending the biggest delegation Cabatan and Bolico as the youngest athletes.
Batang Pinoy is the PSC’s flagship grassroots development program for student athletes aged 15 years old and younger.
The Ilocos Sur games featured nine sports that were staged face-to-face and eight held online.
“The Batang Pinoy has become an integral part of our national sport program, and now one of the flagship programs of the country, especially for the grassroots,” PSC chairman Noli Eala said. “From the tracks to the courts and other fields of play, dreams of young athletes began, dreams of waving our flag, wearing our colors and bringing pride to our country in international sports competitions. These dreams were offered through the Batang Pinoy platform.”
Milo Ambassadors and Olympic medalist and world champion Hidilyn Diaz and Carlos Yulo first competed at the Batang Pinoy.
“Our province warmly welcomed our athletes, coaches, parents and guests to Vigan and we are honored to be part of your sports journeys,” Ilocos Sur Governor Jerry Singson said. “One thing is for sure, we all are winners in our own ways, and may this triumph be the perpetual success of Batang Pinoy.”
Baguio City emerged overall champion with 100 medals, followed by Pasig City and Quezon City with 48 and 46 medals, respectively.
“We are very happy to be back on ground with kids from different parts of the country,” Milo Sports Executive Carlo Sampan said. “We’ve worked hard with the PSC over the last years to work on making sure that kids are continuously active throughout the pandemic and it’s amazing to see them in person again doing what they love in person and with their peers.”