With this year’s Palarong Pambansa currently taking place in Davao City, certain groups have brought up the idea that online games ought to be included in future hosting of the event. Since the Southeast Asian Games now consider it a competitive sport, they argue that this annual multi-sport event for student-athletes should, too.
Image from theplaybook
When prodded with the question of including e-sports in the future iterations of the event, Palarong Pambansa 2019 secretary-general and DepEd undersecretary Revsee Escobedo admitted they have not discussed the possibility yet. However, he hedges that their priority as of the moment is adding in traditional Filipino games or larong Pinoy.
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According to him: “The secretary wants to include larong Pinoy in the regular Palarong Pambansa sports. Maybe next year, we have larong Pinoy as demo sports with other sports. But not online games.”
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Since Palarong Pambansa focuses on the physical wellness of its athletes they must first consider sports which strengthen and improve motor and physical skills. Escobedo also claims they have not had enough time to research the merits of e-sports yet.
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For him, “there are positive and negative observations with regards to online games. What is important is we have to balance. What is important to us, the officials of DepEd, is the holistic development of our lifelong learners.”
What do you think: should e-sports be included in Palarong Pambansa?
