By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

I STILL recall the tale of Pangasinan’s famous single day annual bikefest which was eventually dubbed as “Werweran ed Mangaldan.” It was initiated and organized by former Mangaldan mayor, the late Atty. Macario G. Ydia, on March 7, 1974 in conjunction with the celebration of Mangaldan town fiesta. In those days, bikefest was one of Mangaldan’s main sports attraction. He won the hearts of the people, especially the young ones. Yes, I think that was one of the reasons why he was reelected.

The initial road race that passed ten times the municipalities of San Jacinto, Manaoag, Mapandan and back to Mangaldan with a total distance of 182 kilometers was won by Urdaneta City born Welcelmo Baguio.

The ‘Werweran of Mangaldan’ became a very popular one-day national event that attracted well-known national Tour champions like the Manuel Reynante, Reynaldo Dequito, Manuel Buenaventura of Metro Manila, Armando Catalan and Placido Valdez of Nueva Ecija, from outside our province. Our Pangasinan standouts who joined were the Cariño brothers Samson and Ruben and their distant relative El Joshua Carino, all from Mangaldan, Jacinto Sicam of San Manuel and Pepito Calip of Binalonan, Enrique Domingo of San Carlos City, Edgardo Pagarigan of Bugallon and Ericson Obosa of Manaoag, to name some.

After Ydia’s terms as mayor, the annual ‘Werweran of Mangaldan’ bikefest was continued by then mayors Atty. Benigno Gubatan, Dr. Consorcia Golea, Dr. Pedrito Presto, Herminio Romero, Bernardo  Abalos. Mayor Tito Sarzaba and former vice Mayor Engr. Manny Casupang also played major roles in this bikefest that I directed for 38 years.

Actually, this yearly Mangaldan bikefest was originally called “Mangaldan Cycling Grand Prix” but eventually changed to “Werweran ed Mangaldan” during the term of Mayor Romero. It was changed by some Mangaldan‘s avid cycling supporters, among them former Comelec top officer Johnny Valencia, Dr. Butch Ydia, Philip Fabia, Adjie Cabrera, and this writer. National media referred to as one of the longest and most prestigious one-day bicycle in the country. Through the years, Mangaldan produced four national Tour champions: myself and the three Cariño brothers and one Olympian, my son Jazy, who participated in two Olympi games.

The bikefest was suspended during the pandemic period and revived under the sponsorship of ‘Excellent Noodles’ of Mr. Alex Billan.  It was discontinued by Mayor Bonafe de Vera Parayno during her six-year terms starting in 2013 and during the three-year terms of former Mayor Marilyn Lambino. Last that I heard, the bikefest was resumed last week with the blessing of Mayor Bona, but I was not invited. Politics?

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. MATTHEW: 24: 7-8

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