Re-varnished Barnachea 

By Jesus A. Garcia, Jr.  

SORRY guys if you missed my column last week because I run out of time to catch the press deadline as I was in Baguio City following the crucial and decisive 10th stage of the 2011 LBC Ronda Pilipinas Tour participated in by 96 elite riders in the whole archipelago that made up for 16 squads.  It should be noted that because of the popularity of this sport in the province, the organizers allowed Pangasinan to field two teams.  (Sadly neither team placed in the top three positions, the first time that ever happened to us in team competitions since the birth of cycling in this country in 1955).

But we seized again the individual honor this time after five years of drought. This year’s champ is from barangay Esperanza of Umingan, Pangasinan named Santy Barnachea, a well-known personality in the cycling sport. He already won the 2006 Padyak Pinoy Tour diadem and the 2002 four-day Tour of Calabarzon tiara.

The Philippine Navy enlisted man Barnachea, after suffering disastrous finish year after year for five years, stunned the cycling public by capturing his third national title at the age of 35, the second oldest champion in a multi-stage bicycle racing, next to Mamerto Eden of Mapandan.

Santy, after his triumph in 2006 married a young lass from San Carlos City named Michelle Domingo (and I was one of their wedding ninongs together with then DPWH regional 1 director Fidel D. Ginez and Punch columnist Al Mendoza). He’s now blessed with two kids christened Warren and Princess, seven and five years old, respectively. Michelle is the younger sister of Marlboro and Padyak Pinoy Tours veteran seven-time sprint king Enrique Domingo.

“I’m blessed and I thank God, my teammates, coaches and my family for this victory,” said the East Pangasinan team skipper Barnachea in Pilipino after he kissed and raised his trophy together with the huge replica of the P1-million cheque he earned as the new ‘king of the road.’ “I can’t describe how happy I am now because this is my biggest sin since I started racing as a cyclist,” he added.

Like the 2003 Tour Pilipinas king Arnel Quirimit of Pozorrubio, Barnachea was a product of the ‘OO Na Palaris Cycling Series” organized by former Pangasinan governor Oscar M. Orbos in late 1990’s. As the director of these races, my records say his first try of the series was a 10th place finish and that many pundits (including this writer) predicted that this young man from eastern Pangasinan will be a big winner someday and bring honors for our place. And we were right. He gave us not only one laurel but three, so far. Yes, we failed in the team competition but despite his age, the re-varnished

Barnachea saved the team from humiliation and restored the cycling glory of Pangasinan. We used to dominate the cycling tours in the late 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and especially during 80’s. Truth be told, Pangasinan is the only province in the country that already produced numerous champions in this sport. And whoever dismisses or belittles this achievement does not know what excellence in sports means. In fact, I know some of them cannot think beyond basketball.

I did say in this space two weeks ago that I would print here the text messages that I received from three coaches of school teams competing in the 2011 PRISAA-UCAAP inter-collegiate cagefest on the unprofessional conduct of my former friend Phil Celi, referee Jun Amado and particularly Colegio de Dagupan coach PJ Samson.  The coaches who texted prodded me to print their messages to show that the three do not have the support of all the coaches. But I finally decided not to because the basketball tourney issues were local in nature and given my limited space, I had to prioritize this national cycling event. After all, I believe it’s one of the favorite sports of Pangasinenses that already brought 19 indisputable national crowns including the just concluded 12-day road cycling saga.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: And Jesus Christ said “Judge not, that you be not judged.” For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Matthew 7:1-2

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