The Philippine Youth Games – Batang Pinoy or simply Batang Pinoy () is the national youth sports competition of the Philippines for athletes ages eight to 15 years old. Unlike the Palarong Pambansa a competition for student athletes, the Batang Pinoy also includes the out-of-school youth.
History The Batang Pinoy was established through the Executive Order No. 44 which was signed by then President Joseph Estrada on December 2, 1998. The first edition was held in Bacolod in 1999. From then, the games were held annually with Santa Cruz, Laguna (2000), Bacolod (2001) Puerto Princesa (2002) hosting the next three editions. The 2002 and prior editions, were for athletes of 12 years and below.
In 2003, the Philippine Sports Commission decided to put the competition, along with its other national competitions, on hold so the sports body could reallocate funds to the national teams' stint at the Southeast Asian Games. The Batang Pinoy was held again in 2011, and is held annually since then.
In 2017, the prospects of ending the organization of Batang Pinoy was raised due to it being redundant to the Palarong Pambansa, another national games but for student-athletes below 18 years of age.
In 2020, Batang Pinoy was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Last held in 2019 in Puerto Princesa, the Batang Pinoy resumed in 2022 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Starting the 2026 edition in Bacolod, the age limit was revised to cover athletes 8 to 15 years old. The adjustment was made due to the SEA Plus Youth Games being an under-16 tournament.
Editions Host of the Batang Pinoy National Championships.
EditionYearMain host1st1999Bacolod2nd2000Santa Cruz, Laguna3rd2001Bacolod4th2002Puerto Princesa colspan="3" 5th2011Naga, Camarines Sur6th2012Iloilo City7th2013*Bacolod8th20149th2015Cebu City10th2016Tagum11th2018Baguio12th2019Puerto Princesa colspan="3" 13th2022Vigan14th2023Manila15th2024Puerto Princesa16th2025General Santos17th2026Bacolod (*) Hosting of the originally 2013 edition postponed to early 2014. A second Batang Pinoy was hosted in the same year.
See also Palarong Pambansa Philippine National Games
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