Busy town fiesta of Sta. Barbara

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

AFTER the two-month long inter-barangay basketball tournament where barangay Ventinilla captured the championship, three more competitions will be held in the town of Sta. Barbara in conjunction with the celebration of its town fiesta.

It officially starts today and ends on December 8.

According to Alderman Dr. Emmanuel Cabangon, executive committee chairman of this year’s affair, body-building, singing and dance contests have been lined up aside from some traditional social activities, in line with Mayor Reynaldo Velasco’s ten-point agenda that includes sports and youth development.

Kgd. Cabangon’s elder brother Eliasar, the chairman of the body-building event, together with Dante T. Santiago said the main aim of this year’s activities is to promote sports and youth developments — that if possible — to help curb or at least minimize the drug menace that’s now affecting society.

The tilt, dubbed as the “First Annual Body Building Competition”, will have four categories.  Three of these, the novice, junior and senior categories, will be open to all Pangasinenses 18 years of age and above. More than 50 participants are expected to participate.

The fourth category will be an “exclusive” one for body-builders from Sta. Barbara. Eliasar, also the president of the Sta. Barbara Gymmers Association, said the “exclusive” division is meant to spice up the competition. He also pointed out that all the winners in each category will receive trophies, medals and cash prizes. He didn’t mention how much. But it will be announced before the tiff.

It will be staged on December 6, 2:00 pm for the weighing of participants. The actual competitions start at 8:00 p.m. at the town’s plaza.

Three-time Mr. Pangasinan winner Zaldy Garcia, owner of well-known Zyldz’s Gym, is fully supporting the event with townmates Sam Delfin and Manny Onia.

Eliasar also said that Sta. Barbara-born Herminigildo Tigno, the 1961 Mr. Philippines and son of the late Mayor Cesar Tigno, will be coming from the Unites States to be one of the important guests during the occasion.

Tigno, as I recall, bagged the runner-up plum during the 1961 Mr. Universe contest, putting his town in the world’s sporting map. I believe that was the highest honor that a Filipino ever achieved in the annual body building international competitions.

The last day of the festivities will have the singing and dance contest at the town’s auditorium starting at 7:00 p.m.

Dubbed this year as the “Sta. Barbara Idol Singing and Group Dance Contests,” Cristituto Bartolome, chairman of these two events said the dance contests are for 21 years old and below and each team should at least have five or eight members, while the singing contests runs in two categories, the ‘bulilit’ portion for below 13 years of age and the ‘teens’ for 13 to 21 years.

“Our objective is to discover homegrown talents in the field of singing and dancing for future national competitions,” said Bartolome.

“At the same time, we believe that this is the best and the main way to encourage the youth to stay away from prohibited drugs,” Bartolome added.

Like the body building tilt, winners of the singing and dance contests will receive cash prizes, trophies and medals.

All these events are under the auspices of the Municipal Physical Fitness and Sports Development Council headed by sports buff Mayor Reynaldo Velasco.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/sports-eye/
Readers may reach columnist at biking.jess@yahoo.com . For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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