The Palarong Pambansa (Filipino for "National Games") is an annual multi-sport event involving student-athletes from the different regions of the Philippines. The event which was known as the BPISAA Games from its inception in 1948 until 1973, is organized and governed by the Department of Education.
Student-athletes from public and private schools at elementary and secondary levels can compete, provided they qualified by winning at their regional meet. For young Filipino student-athletes, Palarong Pambansa is the culmination of school sports competition, which start with local school intramurals, followed by the congressional district, provincial, and regional athletic meets.
The objectives of Palaro are: To promote physical education and sports as an integral part of the basic education curriculum for holistic development of the youth; Inculcate the spirit of discipline, teamwork, excellence, fair play, solidarity, sportsmanship, and other values inherent in sports; Promote and achieve peace by means of sports; Widen the base for talent identification, selection, recruitment, training, and exposure of elementary pupils and secondary students to serve as a feeder to the National Sports Association (NSA) for international competitions; and Provide a database for a valid and universal basis to further improve the school sports development programs.
The legal basis of the Palarong Pambansa is stipulated in the provision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article XIV, Section 19.
History BPISAA Games (1948–1973) The first edition of the games was held in Manila in 1948. Before it was called Palarong Pambansa, it was dubbed as Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games (BPISAA). It was hosted yearly only disrupted twice; in 1957 due to the death of President Ramon Magsaysay and in 1972 when President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. 1973-1974: Alice Cusay Babiera - Won 3 gold medals in 400m, 800m, 1500m at Palarong Pambansa. Later became a radio journalist and sports coach in Negros Occidental. In 1973, the last BPISAA which was held in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Palarong Pambansa (1974–present) In 1974, the Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games was renamed Palarong Pambansa.
The 1980 Palarong Pambansa was not conducted was substituted with another tournament called Palarong Bagong Lipunan hosted by Marikina.
In 1984, the games scheduled to be hosted in Laoag. However it was cancelled due to the 1983 Luzon earthquake. Gintong Alay director Michael Keon organized the Palarong Pilipino in Manila in place of the cancelled games in the same year. The games was not be held until 1988, or two years after the People Power Revolution. The 1988 edition was known as the Palarong Paaralang Pambansa. There were plans to organize the games biannually to save funds but this was aborted by the organization of the 1989 games.
Misamis Oriental and Negros Occidental have hosted Palarong Pambansa four times each, more than any other provinces. Misamis Oriental hosted the Palarong Pambansa in 1975, 1977, 1978 and 1988. Negros Occidental hosted the games in 1974, 1979, 1998 and 2000. Lingayen, Pangasinan has hosted three times, in 1959, 1999 and 2012.
Institutionalized Palarong Pambansa Starting with the 2015 edition of the games, the Palarong Pambansa Board, which was created due to the Palarong Pambansa Law signed in May 2014, shall be mainly responsible for the preparation and conduct of the games. The board shall be the main policy-making and coordinating body of the annual tournament. The point system which is used to rank teams as early as the 2005 edition was scapped for the 2014 edition. From the 2014 edition, the General Olympic Medal System is used where the number of medals with priority to gold medals is devised to determine team rankings.
The Palaro would be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the cancellation of the 2020 edition and the games not being held at all in 2021 and 2022. The games has returned with the hosting of the 2023 edition in Marikina.
Participating teams The regions participating in the annual Palarong Pambansa has become bigger as some regions have split. For instance, Southern Tagalog Regional Athletics Association (STRAA) represented the 10 provinces of Southern Tagalog in the later Palarong Pambansa. But it was divided into two, which is now Region 4-A or the Calabarzon region and Region 4-B or the Mimaropa region. Both are taking part in Palarong Pambansa as different teams or regions.
Creation of administrative and autonomous regions such as Bangsamoro (competing since the 2019 edition) and Cordillera Administrative Region and splitting of big region into new regions like the Southern Mindanao, Central Visayas and Western Visayas causes more teams. All these reasons made the 18 regions participating in Palarong Pambansa.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has competed in the Palarong Pambansa from 1994 until 2018. It was succeeded by Bangsamoro. The Negros Island Region (NIR) has also competed during its first iteration from in 2016 and the 2017 editions.
A color coding system was introduced to uniquely identify each region based on their designated colors. + Current teams Code Name Monicker Colors R1AA 01 Ilocos Region Mighty Tamaraws CAVRAA 02 Cagayan Valley Green Hawks CLRAA 03 Central Luzon Central Luzon Patriots STCAA 04 Southern Tagalog – Calabarzon CALABARZON Heroes BRAA 05 Bicol Region Bicol Vulcans WVRAA 06 Western Visayas The Champs Western Visayas CVRAA 07 Central Visayas CViRAA Fighters EVRAA 08 Eastern Visayas EV Troopers ZPRAA 09 Zamboanga Peninsula Zamboanga Peninsula Sharks NMRAA 10 Northern Mindanao NorthMin Stars DAVRAA 11 Davao Region Davao Eagles SRAA 12 Soccsksargen Soccsksargen Warriors NCRAA 13 NCR National Capital Region NCR Metro Stars CARAA 14 CAR Cordillera Administrative Region Fearless Highlanders CARAGARAA 16 Caraga Region Caragold MRAA 17 Southwestern Tagalog – Mimaropa MIMAROPA Tamaraws NIRAA 18 NIR Negros Island Region Visayan Vipers BARMMAA 18 BARMM Bangsamoro BARMM Sultans NAS N/A National Academy of Sports NSA Excel Lions PSO N/A Philippine Schools Overseas PSO Borderless Vitors + Historical teams Code Name Colors Active ARMMAA ARMM Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao 1994–2018
Sports
As of 2026, a total of 39 sports disciplines, including the para-games, demonstrations, and exhibition sports.
It also features the Indigenous Filipino (Traditional) Games, also known as "Laro ng Lahi", the DepEd will conduct Kadang-kadang, Tumbang Preso, and Patintero on July 28, as of 2023.
Demonstration Sports Karatedo Kickboxing Soft Tennis
Exhibition Sports Cheerdancing Esports Muay Thai Obstacle course Sitting Volleyball Traditional games
Parasports Athletics Bocce Goalball SwimmingRegular Sports Archery Arnis Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Billiards Boxing Chess Dancesport Football Futsal Gymnastics Aerobics Artistic Rhythmic Pencak Silat Sepak takraw Softball Swimming Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis Volleyball Weightlifting Wrestling Wushu
Editions
BPISAA Games (1948–1973) EditionYearHost Notes 1st 1948 Manila, NCR 2nd 1949 Tuguegarao, Cagayan, R-2 3rd 1950 Davao City, R-11 4th 1951 Cavite City, R-4A 5th 1952 Legazpi, Albay, R-5 6th 1953 Vigan, Ilocos Sur, R-1 7th 1954 Cebu City, R-7 8th 1955 Iloilo City, R-6 9th 1956 Batangas City, R-4A 1957 Cancelled due to President Ramon Magsaysay's death (1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash) 10th 1958 Tagbilaran, R-7 11th 1959 Lingayen, Pangasinan, R-1 12th 1960 Manila, NCR 13th 1961 Cavite City, R-4A 14th 1962 Ozamiz, R-10 15th 1963 Roxas, R-6 16th 1964 Pasig, NCR 17th 1965 Tacloban, R-8 18th 1966 Quezon City, NCR 19th 1967 Laoag, R-1 20th 1968 Zamboanga City, R-9 21st 1969 Pili, Camarines Sur, R-5 22nd 1970 Surigao City, R-13 23rd 1971 Bacolod, R-6 1972 Cancelled due to declaration of martial law24th 1973 Vigan, Ilocos Sur, R-1
Palarong Pambansa (1974–present) Editions from 1974–2003 EditionYearHost Notes 25th 1974 Bacolod, R-6 26th 1975 Cagayan de Oro, R-10 27th 1976 Lucena, R-4A 28th 1977 Cagayan de Oro, R-10 29th 1978 Cagayan de Oro, R-10 30th 1979 Bacolod, R-6 1980 Cancelled but substituted by Palarong Bagong Lipunan hosted by Marikina, National Capital Region31st 1981 Tuguegarao, Cagayan, R-2 32nd 1982 Dipolog, R-9 33rd 1983 Tacloban, R-8 1984 Laoag, R-1 Cancelled due to 1983 Luzon earthquake but was substituted by the Palarong Pilipino games in Manila 1985–87 Not held, cancelled in 1986 due to the People Power Revolution34th 1988 Cagayan de Oro, R-10 Known as the Palarong Paaralang Pambansa.35th 1989 Lucena, R-4A 36th 1990 San Fernando, Pampanga, R-3 37th 1991 Iloilo City, R-6 38th 1992 Zamboanga City, R-9 39th 1993 Ilagan, Isabela, R-2 40th 1994 Cebu City, R-7 41st 1995 Lingayen, Pangasinan, R-1 42nd 1996 Koronadal, South Cotabato, R-12General Santos, R-12 Province of Sarangani, R-12 43rd 1997 Legazpi, Albay, R-5 44th 1998 Bacolod, R-6 1999 Tubod, Lanao del Norte, R-10 Cancelled due to security isuues45th 2000 Bacolod, R-6 2001 Tubod, Lanao del Norte, R-10 Cancelled due to lack of fund and security isuues46th 2002 Naga, Camarines Sur, R-5 47th 2003 Tubod, Lanao del Norte, R-10 2004 Cancelled due to 2004 National Elections
Palaro under the Point System (2005–2013) From as early as the 2005 edition to 2013, the point system is used to determine the rankings of the participating team. There is no comprehensive information for earlier editions of the games including the system officially in used.
Edition Year Host Results Ref / Notes First place Second place Third place48th1 2005 Iloilo City, R-6 638 - National Capital Region (NCR) 434 - Western Visayas (R-6) 411.1 - Calabarzon (R-4A) 49th 2006 Naga, Camarines Sur, R-5 512.67 - National Capital Region (NCR) 428 - Calabarzon (R-4A) 367.5 - Western Visayas (R-6) 50th 2007 Koronadal, South Cotabato, R-12 640.4 - National Capital Region (NCR) 455 - Western Visayas (R-6) 332 - Calabarzon (R-4A) 51st 2008 Puerto Princesa, R-4B 638 - National Capital Region (NCR) 434 - Western Visayas (R-6) 411.1 - Calabarzon (R-4A) 52nd 2009 Tacloban, R-8 588.34 - National Capital Region (NCR) 460.17 - Western Visayas (R-6) 382.5 - Calabarzon (R-4A) 53rd 2010 San Jose, Tarlac, R-3 643 - National Capital Region (NCR) 432.67 - Western Visayas (R-6) 404.67 - Calabarzon (R-4A) 54th 2011 Dapitan, R-9 572.66 - National Capital Region (NCR) 479.50 - Western Visayas (R-6) 429.50 - Calabarzon (R-4A) 55th 2012 Lingayen, Pangasinan, R-1 733 - National Capital Region (NCR) 452 - Western Visayas (R-6) 335.5 - Calabarzon (R-4A) 56th 2013 Dumaguete, R-7 596.5 - National Capital Region (NCR) 446.34 - Western Visayas (R-6) 333 - Central Visayas (R-7)
Palaro under the General Olympic Medal System (2014–present) The Palarong Pambansa was institutionalized through the Palarong Pambansa Act. With it the traditional ranking by medal count is used from the 2014 edition.