Sports Eye

By July 24, 2016Opinion, Sports Eye

Ransacked

Jess Garcia

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

LIKE in previous years, I covered the first leg of the Milo Marathon qualifying race that started at Judge Jose de Venecia, Sr. Boulevard and finished at the compound of CSI Mall dawn of July 17. For the first time in this annual footrace, my two sons participated in. My eldest and my only child into cycling, Jazy, 49, in the five-kilometer race; and my youngest and tallest child (6’2”) Elcid, 30, who’s not only a runner but also a basketball player, did the half-marathon (21-kilometer event) that saw more than one thousand participants, divided in four categories, 21, 10, 5 and 3 kilometer races.

It was a well-organized project except for one unexpected incident that shocked my family – the vehicle of Jazy parked and unattended just across the Stadia was ransacked. The burglar ran away with important valuable personal items of Jazy and his partner Irene, like two Samsung S7 cellphones worth P35,000.00 each, one LG phone worth P9,000.00, one Nokia phone valued  at P4,900.00, Irene’s passport, three credit cards, voter’s identification card, P2,900.00, $150.00, Philippine and Guam driver’s licenses of Jazy, pouch leather bag and backpack. The looting was discovered by the two just after the race that dismayed us all.

We presumed the incident happened during the tense competition just as the sun  was starting  to rise and everybody was busy running and watching. Subsequent police investigation revealed that there was no evidence of forced entry into Jazy’s Toyota FX Tamaraw. So, I surmised there was negligence on the part of Jazy and his partner, forgetting to lock the doors. It was the first time that happened to the two.

The incident left me so angry and frustrated that I failed to get the official results of the race, which was the main purpose for the coverage. What I simply gathered from my reliable source were;: Defending champion Cesar Castaneto, 27, a teacher from Baguio City ruled the 21-kilometer event and local bet Philippine former national duathlon champion Robeno Javier of Santo Tomas, Pangasinan placed fourth to qualify for the 40th Milo National Marathon slated in Iloilo City on December 4. Javier finished second last year to Castaneto. Elcid placed 35th out of 252 contestants. We are not blaming anyone except the two for being remiss. Yes, “nobody is perfect”, as the saying goes. What happened to us was a bitter experience and also a big headache on our part. Hopefully it will not happen anymore. Siya nawa.

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My big thanks to the Sangguniang Bayan of my town Mangaldan for selecting my barangaymate the 24-year-old newly elected town councilor Trisha de Guzman to chair the committee on youth and sports. I believe she deserves that committee. She was our former SK chairperson (Buenlag) with extensive knowledge about sports and youth development during her three-year term in our barangay. Mabuhay po kayo Coun. Trisha.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 1 CORINTHIANS 4-7

 

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