BPISAA Games (1948–1973) The first edition of the games was held in
Manila in 1948. Before it was called Palarong Pambansa, it was dubbed as Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games (BPISAA). It was hosted yearly only disrupted twice; in 1957 due to the death of President
Ramon Magsaysay and in 1972 when President
Ferdinand Marcos declared
martial law. In 1973, the last BPISAA which was held in
Vigan,
Ilocos Sur.
Palarong Pambansa (1974–present) In 1974, the Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games was renamed Palarong Pambansa. The 1980 Palarong Pambansa was not conducted was substituted with another tournament called Palarong Bagong Lipunan hosted by
Marikina. In 1984, the games scheduled to be hosted in
Laoag. However it was cancelled due to the
1983 Luzon earthquake.
Gintong Alay director
Michael Keon organized the Palarong Pilipino in Manila in place of the cancelled games in the same year. The games was not be held until 1988, or two years after the
People Power Revolution. The 1988 edition was known as the Palarong Paaralang Pambansa. There were plans to organize the games biannually to save funds but this was aborted by the organization of the 1989 games.
Misamis Oriental and
Negros Occidental have hosted Palarong Pambansa four times each, more than any other provinces.
Misamis Oriental hosted the Palarong Pambansa in 1975, 1977, 1978 and 1988.
Negros Occidental hosted the games in 1974, 1979, 1998 and 2000.
Lingayen,
Pangasinan has hosted three times, in 1959, 1999 and 2012.
Institutionalized Palarong Pambansa Starting with the 2015 edition of the games, the Palarong Pambansa Board, which was created due to the Palarong Pambansa Law signed in May 2014, shall be mainly responsible for the preparation and conduct of the games. The board shall be the main policy-making and coordinating body of the annual tournament. The point system which is used to rank teams as early as the 2005 edition was scapped for the 2014 edition. From the 2014 edition, the General Olympic Medal System is used where the number of medals with priority to gold medals is devised to determine team rankings. The Palaro would be disrupted by the
COVID-19 pandemic which led to the cancellation of the
2020 edition and the games not being held at all in 2021 and 2022. The games has returned with the hosting of the
2023 edition in
Marikina. ==Participating teams==