The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC)-organized Indigenous Peoples (IP) Games will kick off with the Luzon leg in Salcedo, Ilocos Sur on April 19 and 20.

The PSC has been holding the IP Games since 2018 as part of its mandate to showcase and preserve traditional and indigenous sports like pana (archery), sumpit (blowgun), kadang-kadang (bamboo stilt game), trumpo (spinning top) and javelin.

“We want to hold the Games in regions where there are many tribes,” PSC Commissioner Fritz Gaston said during Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

The IP Games made a successful comeback last year in Palawan after it was shelved during the pandemic.

After Luzon, the PSC is eyeing stops in Bacolod for the Visayas leg and General Santos City for Mindanao IPs.

“If you look at it, there are many events here that are being played in the Olympics, like their versions of javelin and archery,” explained Gaston.

During each leg, there will be an IP forum that will discuss the importance of the communities and the need to promote their culture among the younger generation.

“We are expecting to see a bigger number of participants this year, with over a thousand for all the legs. We might even have an additional leg for Bangsamoro,” Gaston said. (PNA)