BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved a resolution recommended the conduct of a city celebration for the best ever fifth place finish of the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association (CARAA) in the 2018 Palarong Pambansa where winning athletes of the city will be recognized and feted and where possible improvement of the finish shall also be taken up to be funded from available funds of the City Sports Division which shall coordinate with the City Schools Division the conduct of the said event.
The resolution authored by Councilor peter Fianza stated that aside from the incentives provided to winning athletes and coaches, it is but proper to formally recognize the achievements of the city’s athletes and proudly, with its athletes credited with the bulk medal haul of the region, Baguio City will have to continue to carry the torch for the region that it will have to strengthen its preparation and maintain and hopefully achieve a very promising improvement in the rankings in the next staging of the palarong Pambansa.
Further, the resolution added it is also necessary to recognize the efforts of the entire delegation by providing a forum that will inspire preparation and a target for a better finish in the 2019 Palarong Pmabansa.
Fianza claimed the respectable 5th place finish is the best finish of the CARAA that is made more significant with only a gold medal separating it from the fourth placer, Central Visayas region.
Earlier, the CARAA placed 5th in the annual staging of the Palarong Pambansa with a final medal tally of 25 gold medals, 22 silver medals and 23 bronze medals.
According to the resolution, athletes of Baguio City were part of the CARAA contingent that represented the region during the 61st staging of the Palarong Pambnsa which was held at Vigan City, Ilocos Sur last April 15-21, 2018.
The Palarong Pambansa is the national stage of sporting competition where the best of the best of elementary and secondary athletes from the 17 regions of the country meet and compete to demonstrate and showcase their skills, talents and trainings in the field of sports.
The resolution stipulated that conducting a special city celebration for local athletes who actively participated in the Palarong Pambansa will definitely serve as an inspiration to them to continue striving for the best in the filed of sports so that they will be able to continue improving their performance in future local, regional, nati8onal and international sports competitions that will place Baguio in the map as s potential source of top calibre athletes who are potential medallists in upcoming sports competitions.
Moreover, giving due recognition to the top performing athletes of the city through the special celebration should be institutionalized by the local government so that athletes will draw inspiration from it for them to be able to continue bringing home medals in their desired sports events in future competitions.
He said that the local government must continue supporting the conduct of sports events because it will serve as one of the potential sources of athletes who will carry the colors of not only the city but also the country in upcoming sports events in the different parts of the world.
By Dexter A. See
