By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

 

SOME of my cycling contemporaries, including the young and current competitors of the two-wheeled event, politicians and cycling buffs, asked me (maybe to test or tease me) what our province’s credentials are in the field of cycling as competitive sport.  They wondered what it is today since our province already produced quite a number of national Tour champions since multi-stage racing “Tour of Luzon” started in 1955.

I clarified that numerous national multi-stages cycling races in the country emerged since 1975. To name some are the Tour of PICCA (Philippine Industrial Commercial Cycling Association), Marlboro Tour, Fedex Tour, Tour ng Pilipinas, Padyak Pinoy, Le Tour de Filipinas, Ronda Pilipinas. Admittedly, while we were not the first champion in this competitive sport initially won by Sta. Rosa, Laguna son Antonio Arzala, our beloved province already produced 20 national Tour champions and brought home 26 national Tour titles that started with Rufino Gabot of Manaoag. I explained that after Gabot, there were Mamerto Eden of Mapandan in 1958, Edmundo de Guzman of Lingayen in 1962, Gonzalo Recodos of Laoac in 1963, this writer of Mangaldan in 1973, Teodorico Rimarim of Basista in 1974, Samson Cariño of Mangaldan who won the first Tour of PICCA in 1975 and Samson Etrata of Binalonan, the 1975 Tour Luzon, Modesto Bonzo of Sual in 1976, this writer again winning the Tour of PICCA and the first Marlboro Tour both held in 1977, Jacinto Sicam of San Manuel in 1981 and 1982, Romeo Bonzo of Sual in 1983, Ruben Cariño of Mangaldan in 1984, Pepito Calip of Binalonan in 1985, Bernardo Llentada of San Nicolas in 1991, Reynaldo Navarro of San Jacinto in 2000, Wilfredo Calosa of San Jacinto in 2001, Arnel Quirimit of Pozorrubio in 2003, Santy Barnachea of Umingan in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015, Ronald Oranza of Villasis in 2016, and the last (so far) was El Joshua Cariño of Mangaldan in 2018.

Metro Manila was a distant second having produced only 8 national Tour tiaras with 9 national Tour crowns. A far third were Cebu and Nueva Vizcaya with 3 national Tour accolades apiece, respectively.

Pangasinan also holds several national distinctions as team championships since the birth of any national Tour, a record never surpassed. Pangasinan also holds the only distinction as the province in the entire archipelago that produced only a four-time national Tour champion, the living legend Santy Barnachea of Umingan, beating the three-time records of Antonio Arzala, Manuel Reynante of Muntinlupa City and this writer. I’m certain all our provincial governors since 1957 were proud of our cyclists’ achievements.

I believe our town chief executive Bonafe de Vera Parayno is not aware that our beloved municipality Mangaldan is the only town in the Philippines that already produced 4 national Tour champions (so far) spearheaded by this writer of barangay Buenlag, the Cariño brothers Samson and Ruben and their distant relative El Joshua Cariño all from barangay Landas. And modesty aside, Mangaldan is also the only town in the country that produced the only ‘singing cyclist’ or ‘recording artist’ in the Philippines since cycling was born in the country. Yes, this writer, and our Pangasinan squad under my captainship during the 1973 Tour of Luzon was the only cycling team in the history of any national cycling Tour that our trophies and cash prizes were awarded inside the Malacañang Palace handed personally by the former first lady Imelda R. Marcos and assisted by then Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile. I wish somebody will remind Mayor Bona, who’s obviously not a sports lover, unlike all her predecessors (first and foremost, like the late Mangaldan Mayor Atty. Macario G. Ydia), that Mangaldan has a national legacy in tour cycling.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” ROMANS 5: 12

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