The Palarong Pambansa (Filipino for "National Games") is an annual multi-sport event involving student-athletes from 17 regions of the Philippines. The event, started in 1948, is organized and governed by the Department of Education.

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Quick Facts Motto, First event ...

Palarong Pambansa

Motto	Discipline, Teamwork, Excellence
First event	Manila, Philippines
Occur every	Annually
Last event	2023 in Marikina City
Next event	2024 in Cebu City
Organized by	Department of Education
Website	palarongpambansa.deped.gov.ph

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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 the 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.

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 continued yearly until it was cancelled in 1957 due to the death of President Ramon Magsaysay. In 1958, Tagbilaran, Bohol hosted the 10th edition of the game. The game was again cancelled in 1972 when President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. In 1973, the last BPISAA which was held in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

In 1974, the Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games was renamed Palarong Pambansa.

In 1980, 1984-1987 and 1999 Palarong Pambansa was not conducted. In 1980 Palarong Pambansa was substituted with another game called Palarong Bagong Lipunan hosted by Marikina. Between 1984 and 1987 the event's cancellation was due to the People Power Revolution.

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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^[4]) 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.

Defunct regions that have competed in the Palarong Pambansa include the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (which has been replaced by Bangsamoro) and the short-lived Negros Island Region.^[5]

A color coding system was introduced to uniquely identify each region based on their designated colors. Here are the participating regions with their assigned colors.

Currently, there are 20 sports disciplines and a special event being contested at the Palarong Pambansa. Except for archery (which is not played at the elementary level), competition at the events and disciplines are at the elementary and secondary levels.

In the 2013 Palarong Pambansa in Dumaguete, three demonstration sports were played. These were futsal,^[6] wushu and billiards. Below are sports competed at the Palarong Pambansa.

The Department of Education planned to add more events by 2017, particularly for the people with special needs, including the 50-meter and 100-meter runs for athletics and chess for the blind.^[7]

Arnis was included among the priority sports in Palarong Pambansa and begun in 2010, in accordance to Republic Act No. 9850 in 2009, signed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.^[9]

• Culture of the Philippines
• 2011 POC-PSC National Games