• NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER
The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is supervising the installation of a Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)-standard pitch at the Bacolod City National High School oval for the city’s hosting of the Batang Pinoy 2026 in December.
In a statement, Mayor Greg Gasataya said the 7,490-square meter football field will soon be completed.
The P50-million sports facility features an artificial turf and professional-grade lighting, making it Bacolod’s first city-constructed football venue.
“We are happy to note that according to the PFF, we were able to meet the FIFA standards. In addition, the PFF said that our football field is the first in the country to be equipped with hoist lighting to make it easier to raise and lower the lights,” he added.
In an interview, PFF technical development officer Rey Ritaga said he has been tasked by federation president John Anthony Gutierrez to supervise the development of the Bacolod City football pitch.
“This is the first in the Philippines to have lights with ‘elevator’. It would be easy to move up and pull down the lights unlike in other stadiums where the lights are fixed. Na-meet naman lahat ng FIFA standards,” he added.
Spearheaded by the Philippine Sports Commission, Batang Pinoy 2026 is set on Dec. 12 to 18.
The national grassroots sports competition for athletes aged 8 to 15 will feature 30 sports disciplines, with the inclusion of golf, skateboarding and bowling.
The other events include aquatics, archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, chess, cycling, dancesport, futsal, gymnastics, jiujitsu, judo, karate, kickboxing, muay, pencak silat, sepak takraw, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.
This year will be the fourth time Bacolod will host the Batang Pinoy, after hosting the inaugural games in 1999, as well as in 2001 and 2013. | NLG
