Arnel Jordan Domingo (CTE) bagged the gold in shot put-men; Mark John Moran (CIT), the silver medal in lawn tennis-men; and Fatima Mitra (CAS), the bronze medal in shot put-women.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the guest of honor when the country’s biggest collegiate sportsfest opened at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Feb. 22.

\"I personally consider the CHED National Games as a milestone for Philippine Higher Education because this is the first time that (private) higher education institutions, state universities and colleges, and local government colleges and universities are staging an integrated national sports competition,\" President Arroyo said.

More than 5,000 athletes from 17 regions took part in the week-long event organized by CHED under the chairmanship of Dr. Emmanuel Angeles.

Philippine Sports Commission chair Harry Angping and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim also graced the opening ceremony along with Private School Athletic Association chair, Dr. Gonzalo Duque; State Colleges and Universities president, Dr. Lauro Tacbas; and Local Colleges and Universities Athletics Association president, Tomas Lopez.

\"We were awed by the outstanding performances of our counterparts from other regions, but our three sports knights delivered the shining moments for the Ilocos Region,\" said Prof. Arsenio T. Gallego, director of MMSU’s Physical Education, Sports, and Socio-cultural Development Office.

Metro Manila delegates showed that homecourt advantage really works as the National Capital Region (NCR) pulled away in the medal race. Those who stood out in the CHED National Games will get a crack at the national pool for next year’s Southeast Asian Games.

The different events in the games were: athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, dance sports, judo, karatedo, lawn tennis, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, football, sepak takraw, softball, and volleyball.