Last January 18, 2019, the Philippine Paralympic Committee unveiled that the Philippines will be hosting the 10th ASEAN Para Games beginning on January 18, 2020. This will be the second time where the Philippines will be hosting this major sports event.

The 8-day sports event will be held at the New Clark City Sports Complex in Capas, Tarlac. Other event hubs for the games include Subic, Clark, and Manila.

The 9,450-hectare new sports complex aims to be at par with international stadiums as its field stadium composes of 20,000 seats, the aquatic center with 2,000 seats, and an athlete’s village.

Additionally, according to Philippine Paralympic Committee president Michael Barredo, the athlete’s village will be the temporary home to the para-athletes.

11 ASEAN countries will be participating in the games, which comprises an estimated 2,000 differently-abled players. These countries include Indonesia, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam.

Participants of the ASEAN Para Games include athletes with physical, vision, and intellectual disabilities.

Barredo said during the official countdown ceremony that they are planning to add four new games to the 14 original sports lineup for this year. The four new games include cerebral palsy football, triathlon, shooting, and wheelchair tennis. They are projected to be included in the original sports lineup such as archery, athletics, badminton, boccia, chess, cycling, volley-sitting, wheelchair-basketball, judo, powerlifting, goalball, swimming, table tennis, and tenpin bowling.

The ASEAN Para Games will be held a few weeks after the 30th SEA Games will start, which will also be held in the Philippines.

The Philippines previously hosted the ASEAN Para Games last 2005. The country earned at sixth place and took home 19 gold medals.

History
The ASEAN Para Games is a biannual sports event participated by differently-abled players all over Southeast Asia. Conceptualized by Malaysian Paralympic Council’s founding president of Zainal Abu Zarin, the purpose of the games is to promote friendship and solidarity with differently-abled persons in the ASEAN region. It also rehabilitates and integrates persons with disabilities into the mainstream society.

Over 19 different sports were played at the Para Games in one point or another. These sports are the following:

  • Judo
  • Chess
  • Powerlifting
  • Athletics
  • Archery
  • Cycling
  • Wheelchair Fencing
  • Target Shooting
  • Sailing
  • Swimming
  • Badminton
  • Boccia
  • Ten-pin Bowling
  • Five-a-Side Football
  • CP Football
  • Goalball
  • Table Tennis
  • Wheelchair Basketball
  • Wheelchair Tennis
  • Sitting Volleyball

Additionally, the Para Games aim ASEAN players with disabilities to prepare for the annual Paralympic Games. It is a global sports event competed by players with impairment all around the world.

The ASEAN Para Games is under the regulation of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF).