Dagupan kids shine in Asian tilt

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

TO WIN a medal in an Asian tilt is a gargantuan task. I, for example, was an athlete for three decades, 1963-1993, and in all those years I had to give my all before I was able to finally achieve such a goal. I never competed in any Asian tilt but I’m proud and glad to say that I defeated an Asian champion, an Italian-trained Indonesian cyclist named Sutiyono (sorry, I forgot his first name) during the eight-day road battle of the 1977 Tour of PICCA (Philippine Industrial Commercial Cycling Association). I won it handily and the two-time Asian gold medalist Sutiyono just landed third with my student and town mate Ruben Carino placing second. Yes, it was really a monumental feat that I won’t ever forget. I consider that victory more prestigious and difficult to attain than winning the 1973 Tour of Luzon because I beat an Asian champion in a convincing fashion.

We have only a few amateur athletes from Pangasinan who have triumphed in international competitions. And we have some from Dagupan City. The first I can recall was a track athlete named Rogelio Onofre who was first to put the city in sports limelight when he won a bronze medal during the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games. Another was Carlo Fernandez, the current Dagupan City SK Federation president and grandchild of Mayor Al Fernandez who won some gold medals in swimming in international competitions in Hongkong many years back. And there was also the child of Teresita Coquia named Saed who also excelled in swimming. Teresita is one of the owners of the famous Silverio Restaurant in the city.

Just recently, three kids from Dagupan shone, this time in Karate. The three Dagupenos who represented the Philippines in the Asian Kobe International Karate Championships, namely: Kristelle Ira Zabala, Mark Andrew Manantan and Ma. Raniela Gutierrez, won four silver and three bronze medals in the 12-13 years old and 10-11 years old categories. The event was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I know nothing about the Manantans except that Mark Andrew is the nephew of media colleague Liway Manantan Yparaguirre. Same with Gutierrezes, except the fact that I know there are many Gutierrez families here in Dagupan, there is nothing I know about them.

But I know a bit about Zabala because her proud grandfather, Johnny Moulic, is from my town Mangaldan. The 12-year old Zabala resides with her parents Ramon Zabala and Christine Moulic at barangay Mangin. The first child of three siblings, she was born on April 9, 1997 and currently a grade six pupil studying at Wonderland School. According to Grandpa Johnny, Ira (her nickname) will again compete in the PRO-Karatedo Traditional on December 19 in Cainta, Rizal. The event will be supervised by the Philippine Karatedo Federation, the national governing body of karate.

I had a brief chitchat with former Dagupan City Mayor Benjie S. Lim during the Engkwentro forum at Lenox Hotel last Wednesday and we talked about these potential athletes. He said he will help these young athletes from Dagupan, especially if he is elected as the city’s chief executive anew.

I believe he will if he wins because Benjie is also a sports-minded person like his political foe, Al Fernandez. We all know that he’s battling a giant and election is still five months away at marami pang mangyayari, so let’s wait and see.

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