Dagupan’s 5th place finish in R1AA commended
AFTER ONLY 3-WEEK TRAINING
THE 91 medalists that enabled Dagupan to salvage fifth place finish in the just concluded Region 1 Athletic Association (R1AA) Meet were commended and were still awarded cash incentives during the flag ceremony on May 22 at the city plaza.
Mayor Belen Fernandez said the Dagupan athletes, whom she calls “Batang Dagupeno” still managed a respectable finish in the R1AA Meet through their sheer guts despite their short training and shortage of equipment and other supplies.
The uniforms of Dagupan athletes had to be rushed by the suppliers.
A sports official of the City Schools Division confirmed that athletes of other delegations trained in their respective sports events for three months while the city’s athletes only had three weeks at most to train.
Mayor Fernandez said the city government was not in a position to provide usual incentives as a token of gratitude to its athletes for their spectacular performances in the last R1AA Meet because Dagupan City is operating on a reenacted budget that did not have a budget for sports development.
However, she, Vice Mayor Bryan Kua, Councilors Michael Fernandez, Jeslito Seen, Dennis Canto, Marcelino Fernandez and Joshua Bugayong agreed to pool their personal funds for some cash incentives for the athletes: P2,000 to each gold medal winners, P1,000 to each of the silver medal winners and P500 to each of the bronze medal winners.
Bigger cash incentives were given when Dagupan won the back-to-back R1AA titles in 2018 and 2019, and even when the city won the back-to-back first runner-up titles in 2016 and 2017.
Fernandez said God willing and with the support of the Sangguniang Panglunsod, they will eventually pass the proposed annual budget for 2024 that will allocate more funds for sports development.
She blamed the lack of preparation of the city’s athletes to the late passage of the Annual Investment Plan (AIP) of P1.8 billion by the city council and decision of the 7-majority to withdraw the Special Education Fund (SEF)of P48 million.
The fund was restored with the passage of a new AIP of P2.1 billion, but it was too late to bankroll the expenses for training and purchase of equipment of athletes. (Leonardo Micua)
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