IBA, Zambales — A highly-motivated Team Zambales is barreling through opposition in the 2026 Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association (CLRAA) competition, as local athletes gun for more medals with the goal of topping this year’s qualifier for the 2027 Palarong Pambansa.
The 2026 CLRAA sports event, which pits student-athletes from the seven provinces of Region III under the auspices of the Department of Education (DepEd), took off last Saturday, March 21, in Tarlac province which co-hosts this year’s sports meet with Aurora.
Partial and official overall results from the DepEd as of Wednesday, March 25, placed Zambales at second rank with18 gold, 22 silver, and 25 bronze medals. The total haul is just a few medals short of top-placer Bataan’s record of 24 gold, 17 silvers, and 12 bronze awards.
Meanwhile, defending champion Olongapo City trails with an 18-22-17 medals tally, followed by Bulacan with 16-20-22, and Tarlac with 13-6-13.
Zambales’s medal harvest started right on Day 1 of the competition proper its swimmers took the gold in the 200m freestyle elementary boys and elementary girls.
More gold followed on Day 2 when the Zambales swimming team again dominated the 50m butterfly event for elementary girls, as well as the 4x500m medley relay.
Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., who visited the local athletes at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium on Tuesday, reiterated the provincial government’s full support and urged the local players to “Go for gold.”
The strong showing by Zambales Team early on “portends more victories and validates our efforts to prioritize sports development in Zambales,” he said.
Zambales is bidding to host the Palarong Pambansa in 2027 and is building a P500-milion sports complex in the capital town of Iba, alongside a rigid training program for local athletes.
The Zambales team ended last year’s CLRAA campaign at third place, behind Olongapo City and Bulacan, with 41 gold, 40 silver, and 47 bronze medals.
Jade Ballesteros, who heads the Provincial Sports Development Office, said local athletes are raring for more victory as the Tarlac stage of the 2026 CLRAA meet winds down this Friday.
Tarlac hosts events in athletics, badminton, baseball, billiards, boxing, chess, gymnastics, softball, taekwondo, tennis, wrestling, wushu, pencak silat, weightlifting, and para games.
The second stage to be hosted by Aurora on April 9 to 13 after the Holy Week, would include competitions in archery, arnis, basketball, dancesport, football, futsal, sepak takraw, table tennis, and volleyball. — Taktikom News & Features
