AGUSAN DEL SUR, Philippines – With hardly any surprise, National Capital Region defended its overall crown in the 2026 Palarong Pambansa.

NCR romped its way to a 19th general championship with an impressive haul of 91 golds, 71 silvers, and 71 bronzes for a total of 233 medals following the conclusion of the competitions on Saturday, May 30.

Stamping its dominance in swimming, athletics, and gymnastics, the Metro Stars breached the 90-gold mark for the third straight edition after bagging 98 in Cebu City in 2024 and 117 in Ilocos Norte in 2025.

This Palaro’s most bemedalled athlete came from NCR, with swimmer Patricia Mae Santor winning gold medals in all her seven events in the secondary girls’ division.

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Jamesray Ajido (secondary boys’ swimming) contributed five golds for NCR, while Tchelzy Mei Maayo (secondary girls’ artistic gymnastics), Ashton Clyde Jose (secondary boys’ swimming), Antonette Amante (secondary girls’ aerobic gymnastics), Sheena Jillianne Ty (secondary girls’ rhythmic gymnastics), Deen Gungob (elementary boys’ artistic gymnastics), and Franceine Jhobie Rosario (secondary girls’ athletics) delivered four golds each. 

Twenty-six more athletes from NCR captured multiple gold medals.

Calabarzon finished second overall for the third consecutive year with 55 golds, 50 silvers, and 60 bronzes. Swimmer Charles Nathan Boneo led the way for the region with six golds that came with three Palaro records in the elementary boys’ class. 

Two chess players delivered for Calabarzon, too, as Al-Basher Buto and Phil Martin Casiguran won four golds each in the secondary boys’ division.

Calabarzon also claimed the secondary boys’ basketball crown for the first time since 2016, dethroning Davao Region in the final. 

Despite losing the basketball title, Davao Region placed third overall with 33 golds, 32 silvers, and 35 bronzes as it improved from its back-to-back fourth-place finishes in 2024 and 2025. 

Central Visayas (32-30-44) got fourth to match its highest ranking since 2018, while Western Visayas (31-36-45) landed at fifth, a considerable drop after making the top three in each of the past editions over the last two decades. 

Host region Caraga (30-19-48) finished sixth followed by Northern Mindanao (27-31-31), Central Luzon (27-27-33), Soccsksargen (19-25-32), Zamboanga Peninsula (17-11-13), Negros Island Region (16-24-29), Eastern Visayas (14-25-26), Ilocos Region (14-18-22), Bicol (13-18-21), Cordillera Administrative Region (13-17-16), National Academy of Sports (11-5-12), Mimaropa (5-2-7), Cagayan Valley (4-10-18), and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (1-2-1).

The Philippine Schools Overseas wound up last with no medals.

From Mindanao, the Palaro will return to Metro Manila for the first time since the 2023 Marikina City edition as Quezon City hosts the 2027 games. – Rappler.com