Punchline
PANGASINAN GAMES, why not?
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
EVEN before the ongoing 30th S.E.A. Games breaks up next week, lessons and opportunities are already learned and offered to us as a people, as Pangasinenses.
Let’s start with the sports that we can excel in South East Asia arena. (Note: There’s a whale of difference in levels of competition in SEA Games, ASIAN Games and WORLD Olympics). Let’s stick to our recent experience and exposure – SEA.
Yes, we are on the right track focusing on basketball, volleyball, bike race, chess and athletics. We are falling behind and awfully short in talents and training in swimming, archery, boxing, karate, judo, wushu, arnis for starters. Then singing, e-games, bowling?
If we can excel in all above sports, Pangasinan will be definitely be touted as the Philippines’ home of sports champions. But, of course, that’s easier said than done.
Next comes commitment of provincial, town and city governments. It’s important that our local governments agree to commit to support a year-round program of sports training and competition in as many disciplines and events, much like preparing for the SEA Games, in this case: PANGASINAN GAMES!
Then identification and mapping of resources and logistics must follow. From the top, the provincial government has to set the tone and guidance for the holding of PANGASINAN GAMES. There must be a consensus on which sports must be held yearly and what can be introduced every two years. The consensus will allow our LGUs to prepare and allocate funds for training and allowances of athletes-players and training coaches through out the year.
In PANGASINAN GAMES, a city or town will inevitably be known as the bailiwick of champions of a sport.
Then the venue for PANGASINAN GAMES. We already have the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) that can provide the venue for all the sports mentioned. It’s an arena that can serve Pangasinan, alas, its state of deterioration from substandard maintenance has already taken its toll on the 38 year-old facility.
Proof of this? It was initially considered as one of the venues for the ongoing SEA Games but was quickly rejected because its present state needs a major refurbishing and there was no time and funds for it.
If the Espino legacy should include a biennial or annual PANGASINAN GAMES, the provincial government should begin to allocate funds for the maintenance of the NRSCC by a professional group whose core competence is the upkeep of sports facilities.
But the provincial government is likely to ask – what’s in it for the province to commit to hold and support PANGASINAN GAMES? A lot! Let’s start with pride and spirit of Pangasinenses as a people. Then, the NRSCC can be a profit center in the region. Tourism promotions will be boosted. Small businesses will have added sources for revenue. Sports will be an effective antidote to influence of illegal drugs and depression. Consciousness for a healthy lifestyle will make Pangasineses productive. And last but not the least – to be touted as home to sports champions in the country and a major participant/member of the PH Team in regional and international sports competitions would be remarkable for investors as stakeholders themselves!
And, I’d like to believe that to embrace a mantra that says discipline and striving for excellence in life will discard the “pwede na” or complacent mindset in our midst.
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THE GIRL FROM DAGUPAN. If you’ve been following the results of SEA Games’ competitions regularly, the name and the beautiful face of PH’s Agatha Wong would be familiar to you. She’s one of the first players that won the first gold for PH, and easily became the darling of the games, second to Carlos Yulo.
Little did many know (including myself) that Agatha has roots in Dagupan City being the first grandchild of Winnie and Alice Fernandez, great granddaughter of Dr. Luciano and Richa Fernandez!
According to Winnie, while Agatha did not attend school in Dagupan, she’s familiar with life in the city. My sources said she was in China for 5 months to train for the SEA Games. Hopefully I can have more tidbits about her in our next issue.
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DAWEL CRUISE TERMINATED BY MAGIC. Back in Dagupan City, there is one fact that I think Mayor Brian must know.
First of all, I laud him for re-launching the Dawel River Cruise. It had a good run under his father Mayor BSL, it earned goodwill among overseas Dagupeños and visitors. But it ended abruptly after he was rushed to Manila for treatment to revive him. The fact that the Dawel River Cruise ended in 2013 was certainly not on account of a Mayor Belen Fernandez who took over the reins of the city. It was because his father’s team from Magic, practically destroyed what was expected to be turned over to the new Fernandez administration. I distinctly remember how personnel of Magic dismantled, removed all the facilities paid for and installed with city funds, including the towing of two cannibalized boats to the Lim fishponds along the Patogkaweng river in Barangay Mamalingling under cover of darkness. When investigated, the ‘salvage’ team told off city hall that all the facilities and the boats were not properties of the city government but personal properties of BSL.
To the credit of Mayor Belen, she left the issue at that and launched another river cruise instead.
So, it’s not true that the Dawel River Cruise was terminated because of politics. It was BSL’s team that terminated the Dawel River Cruise’s life.
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KEEP THE CCTVS IN THE CITY. Then, there is the move of the Lim administration to realign budget intended for the acquisition of CCTV cameras in key areas in the city’s barangays to fund new projects of Mayor Brian.
Mr. Lim’s efforts to introduce new projects for Dagupeños should, again, be lauded and supported but when he does it at the expense of an immediate need to safeguard the Dagupeños’ lives and properties, that would be regrettable and ill-advised.
The installation of CCTV cameras in as many areas particularly in urban areas is now a priority program of DILG called ‘SAFE CITY’ program! The objective is to see a drastic reduction in the commission of street crimes and early solution of crimes. The daily TV news reports about criminals being identified and arrested via CCTV clips alone should tell him how important the CCTV cameras are for a SAFE DAGUPAN.
If crimes like rape robberies, drug dealings and killings spike in the city, he only has himself to blame for it because he took out the CCTV cameras in the city. So I hope he will reconsider and source funds from other projects.
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DENGUE CAN BE BEATEN. Here’s a good thing going in Dagupan City. I was updated by our techie expert Wilson Chua about the status of the city in the campaign vs. dengue.
The Dengue Task Force headed by Dr. Windy Balingit Bernardo, has taken the lead in the campaign in Pangasinan. Look! The latest count of cases in Dagupan showed there were only 3 cases (two in Brgy Bolosan and one in Brgy Panta)! Credit her team for doing regular rounds of continuous misting/fogging, investigations of suspected breeding areas in the barangays!
That’s what I call true shared responsibility in the city!
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