page_title: 2015 Palarong Pambansa
section_title: Opening Ceremony
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 Palarong Pambansa / The Palaro / Opening Ceremony
caption_attribution_description: English: Selected students and teachers from the four Department of Education Divisions in the Province of Davao del Norte (Division of Tagum City, Division of Davao del Norte, Division of Panabo City, and Division of IGACOS/Samal Island) perform a mass field demonstration during the Opening Ceremony of the Palarong Pambansa 2015 in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
context_page_description: The 2015 Palarong Pambansa was the 58th edition of the annual multi-sporting event for Filipino student-athletes. The games were held in Tagum, Davao del Norte from 3 to 9 May 2015. This is the first hosting of the Province of Davao del Norte, 60 years after it hosted the Palarong Pambansa as part of the larger Davao province. Tagum hosts most of the venues and billeting centers while the municipalities of Carmen, Sto. Tomas, New Corella, and Kapalong, and the cities of Panabo and Samal Island provided additional billeting centers and venues for the delegates. The events were mostly held within the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex, including the opening and closing ceremonies.
  A total of 26 sports disciplines were contested during the Palaro, 17 of them as regular games, 5 as demonstration games, and 4 special games for athletes with special needs. For the first time, beach volleyball was played as a demonstration sport.
  The Provincial Government of Davao del Norte spent three years to prepare what they promised to be "the best Palaro ever." This included the construction of a redesigned Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex according to international standards.
context_section_description: The opening ceremony took place on 4 May, 4:00 PM PST on the second day of the games at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex. It was originally scheduled to take place on the first day of the games but was moved to avoid an "audience clash" with Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight scheduled to take place in Las Vegas on May 2 (or May 3, PST).
  The welcome parade for the delegates started at 3:00 PM PST at the Provincial Government Center, where they marched to DNSTC. By tradition, the delegates came in order of region (I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, XIII, ARMM, CAR, and NCR), with the host region (XI) entering last. The delegates performed their respective saludo or welcome greeting as they marched down the track and arrived in front of the podium. Some regions also featured their most popular attractions, icons, personalities, and festivals during the parade; Region IV-B (Mimaropa) had athletes wear masks from the Moriones festival, Region VI (Western Visayas) had delegates wearing costumes from the Dinagyang and Ati-Atihan festivals, the Region VII (Central Visayas) had dancers from the Sinulog festival, and Region XII (Soccsksargen) marched with colorful costumes and flags, a banner that reads "Region XII is K-12 ready" (a tribute to the K-12 Program recently adopted by the country), and another banner with the face of its "finest Soccsksargen warrior" Manny Pacquiao. Not to be beaten, the hosts brought a huge replica of the Philippine eagle alongside images depicting the provinces as tribesmen. After the delegates' parade, the technical officials followed. Paratroopers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines performed an aerial paradrop afterwards, carrying with them flags of the Palarong Pambansa and of Davao del Norte.
  Seventeen athletes led by 2014 Palarong Pambansa table tennis champion Kyla Cielo Bernaldez of Panabo City, Davao del Norte lit the cauldron with a three-piece torch that was inspired from the tri-peoples of Davao del Norte: a top piece inspired by the tambara, an altar where the traditional aboriginal tribes (lumad) offer to their spirits, a middle piece featuring authentic Islamic beadwork and sequins, and a bottom piece which looks like a chalice, symbolizing the Christian faith. The torch was designed by Banjo Sappore Jr. from the Ford Academy of the Arts.
  Just after the speech of Davao del Norte governor Rodolfo del Rosario at around 4:30 PM PST, the hot and sunny afternoon turned into a rainy one, prompting both DILG and DepEd secretaries, Mar Roxas and Bro. Armin Luistro to call for the rushing of the opening ceremonies. Roxas expressed concern that the rain may affect the health of the Palaro athletes, and then led the crowd to chants. Luistro informally opened the games by hollering the already-soaked but visibly enjoying students (who endured marching under a hot summer afternoon) with the words "Class dismissed!"
  Many parts of the opening program were omitted or shortened because of force majeure. Despite the heavy downpour of rain, almost 1,000 students and teachers from across all cities and municipalities of Davao del Norte performed a thirty-minute field demonstration, much to the delight and amazement of the crowd. The opening ceremony ended with a ten-minute pyromusical show and a lights-and-sounds show at the Provincial Capitol Building and Capitol Park at 7:00 PM PST.
caption: Field demonstration of selected students and teachers from Davao del Norte, Tagum, Panabo, and Samal.
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