NCR rules Palarong Pambansa for 18th straight time

LAOAG City, Ilocos Norte – Who else but the fancied bets from the Big City.

National Capital Region, as expected, cruised to its 18th straight general championship with a whopping 237-medal harvest at the close of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa Saturday at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium here.

The Metro Stars collected 117 gold, 70 silver and 50 bronze medals overall in both secondary and elementary divisions for a runaway victory since taking the lead in Day 1.

CALABARZON (Region IV-A) claimed second place with a 47-68-66 tally, only three golds ahead of Western Visayas (Region VI), that completed the podium with a 44-54-58 haul.

NCR’s final gold came from the secondary girls’ volleyball as UAAP champion National University-Nazareth School regained the crown and denied Bacolod Tay Tung (Western Visayas), 25-12, 25-14, 25-8 a three-peat feat.

That win made it up for NCR’s letdown in the secondary boys’, one of the Games’ centerpiece events, following a stunning quarterfinal exit of NUNS against Western Visayas’ St. Roberts International Academy of Iloilo, 76-67.

Davao Region, bannered by Ateneo de Davao, went on to rule the staple hoops tourney against the Iloilo bet from Western Visayas, 67-51, for its first-ever Palaro title.

Metro Manila snared the majority of its mints in the secondary division with 72 gold, 56 silver and 40 bronze medals while its elementary team tallied 45-14-10.

From their total collection, swimming delivered the biggest contribution led by Titus Rafael Sia and Sophia Rose Garra alone with seven golds each.

Overall, NCR tankers won 23 gold medals while athletics, led by Jeralyn Rodriguez’s four gold medals and gymnastics, spearheaded by Arman Hernandez’sfive mints, also helped big time.

Meanwhile, more than 30 records are broken in this year’s meet, including five national junior marks in athletics pending confirmation from the PATAFA as the 65th Palaro wraps it up with a fiery closing ceremony as of press time.

No less than President Marcos, in his home province, last week opened the Games organized by the Department of Education and backed by the Philippine Sports Commission in partnership with Ilocos Norte led by Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc and Laoag City bannered by Mayor Michael Keon Marcos.

From Cebu last year to Ilocos Norte this time around, Agusan del Sur is the next host next year of the country’s premier scholastic competition.