CEBU CITY -- It’s official. The Cebu City Niños bagged the overall championship in the Philippine National Games (PNG) 2018 which closed Friday at the Cebu City Sports Center here.
In the final official medal tally released by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) past 10 p.m. Friday, Cebu City collected a total of 52 gold, 59 silver, and 71 bronze medals to rule this year’s edition of the PNG.
The Niños reaped 11 gold medals Friday -- four in dancesport, two in arnis, and one each in tennis, duathlon, volleyball, sepak takraw, and softball -- to seal their overall triumph, dislodging defending 2016 champion Baguio City from the throne.
Baguio settled for the runner-up spot with a 38-36-54 gold-silver-bronze finish and followed by Mandaluyong City with 26-17-27.
Co-host Cebu Province rallied on the last day of competition and wrested the fourth place from General Santos (GenSan) City with a total of 18 golds, 18 silvers, and 28 bronzes. Cebu Province won five golds in arnis and one apiece in men’s volleyball and beach volleyball.
As 2018 Philippine National Games overall champion, Cebu City will receive PHP10 million cash assistance for its sports programs from the PSC and the Office of the President.
For its runner-up finish, Baguio will bag PHP8 million, while Mandaluyong will get PHP6 million for third place.
Cebu Province and GenSan (16-22-27) will receive PHP4 million and PHP2 million for fourth and fifth sports, respectively.
All medalists in the competition will get the chance to represent the country in international sporting events as the PNG was staged to serve as the tryouts for Philippine National Teams in the future.
The weeklong Philippine National Games 2018 was presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and supported by Smart Communications and STI. (PNA)
