Moment to shine for the unsung heroes of Palaro | The Freeman

CEBU, Philippines — The 64th Palarong Pambansa staged in Cebu City two weeks ago has been mired in controversy.

Notwithstanding all the negativity it has stirred, the fact cannot be denied that the Queen City of the South successfully hosted the week-long sports conclave featuring the best grade school student-athletes all over the country.

An event of such magnitude that entails massive funding and vast manpower resources presents a lot of challenges.

But with the collective effort of all stakeholders both from the public and private sectors, the city pulled it off with great success.

And out of it comes the unsung heroes working behind the scenes that are worthy of praise for their hard work and sacrifice.

Among them are the selfless and dedicated medical team, who worked tirelessly for days and spent an enormous amount of time, energy, and commitment in the spirit of volunteerism to ensure that the Palaro is truly memorable for all.

Dr. Rhoel Dejaño, the head of the Palaro Medical Committee, said mounting medical operations for the multi-event gathering was a daunting task as they had to provide medical care to almost 15,000 delegates scattered in 20 billeting quarters, 33 playing venues, and an infirmary at the main stadium.

“The infirmary in itself is a first in Palaro history. It was like a mini hospital, which was divided into four main divisions. It had an Internal Medicine and Pediatric area as most of the athletes are below 18. A musculoskeletal ultrasound area with two MSK machines manned by qualified ultrasonographers. We can get immediate diagnosis of ligament, tendon or muscle tears and other musculoskeletal problems even without the use of an MRI,” wrote Dejaño in a lengthy Facebook post.

“We also had a rehabilitation and physical therapy area where athletes can get treatment for their injuries so that they can continue competing during the week-long tournament. And if necessary athletes can avail of psychological counseling with our standby psychologists for any mental problems they might have. Two main hospitals were also ready to cater to the medical needs of our delegates . All in all, we had more than 600 volunteers coming from the government