By PJTremedal
Tacloban City – Amidst the heat of the sun, people from all walks of life in this “waray” province flock to witness the formal; opening of the 2009 Palarong Pambansa with the presence of the President of the Republic, Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who plane in at the Daniel Romualdez Airport five kilometers from the Leyte Sports Development Complex.
With 15,000 participating athletes, coaches and DepEd Officials led by Secretary Jesli Lapus were welcome by the Leyteños and other visitors from Region 8 and other visitors all over the country.
With an excellent performance from the Leyte artists (Leyte Expression in Movement) and the Buyogan Festival dancers who were adjudged this year’s champion in the Aliwan Festival, Governor Jericho “Icot” Petilla and Mayor Alfred Romualdez and DepED Region 8 Regional Director Sol F. Matugas with other guests welcomed the president and his entourage to include Vice President Noli de Castro.
“We, in the province of Leyte, are very excited that President Arroyo will take time out from her hectic schedules to grace the opening of the Palaro,” Leyte Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla said.
The President calls on the more than 10,000 athletes and athletic officials from the country’s 17 regions to use sports as an effective tool to achieve national unity, peace and progress in keeping with the Palaro’s theme this year: “Bridging Unity, Peace and Progress through Sports.”
After delivering her message, President Arroyo formally declared the weeklong multi-sports meet open. The first and only time Leyte province hosted the Palaro was in 1983.
The Leyte province has spent P70 million to refurbish the Leyte Sports Development Center, the same venue where former Southeast Asian Games long jump queen Elma Muros upset sprint queen Lydia de Vega in the century dash in the 1983 Palaro.
Gia Bucag, a first timer in the Palaro from Central Visayas Region, made sports history today when she bagged the first gold in the elementary girls’ javelin throw.
Aside from athletics, other sports disciplines calendared this year are archery, arnis (secondary only), badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing (secondary only), chess, football, gymnastics, sepak-takraw, softball (secondary only), swimming, table tennis, lawn tennis, taekwondo and volleyball.
Powerhouse National Capital Region (NCR) is the reigning overall champion both in the elementary and secondary divisions, but last year’s second placer Western Visayas is hoping to end the Big City’s sports supremacy.
Completing the list of sports delegations from the regions are Southern Tagalog CALABARZON, Central Visayas, Central Luzon Region, Northern Mindanao, Ilocos Region, Southern Tagalog MIMAROPA, Davao Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Eastern Visayas, Bicol Region, Zamboanga Peninsula, CARAGA, Cotabato Region, Cagayan Valley and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.(with reports from Jun Corgue,PIA 9)
PHILIP JAMES MONGAYA TREMEDAL
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