NO doubt that the city of Dagupan is the bangus capital of the world. Our government officials, then and now, are doing their utmost to promote this milkfish worldwide.
The city government even tried and was successful in breaking the world’s longest grill in 2004 for the Guinness Book of World Records until it was surpassed recently.
According to Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, this year’s chairperson for the Bangus Festival, the event will officially open on April 16 at 1:00 p.m. through the Gilon-Gilon ed Baley and the annual street dancing competition to be held at M.H. del Pilar street and A.B. Fernandez avenue, respectively.
In this year’s festival, nine sporting events will be held namely: billards, cycling, bowling, taekwondo, mud wrestling, parasailing, beach volleyball, badminton and golf.
It will be a total of ten if you consider the bodyfest for women called “bikini open” as a sport. It will be staged on Pista’y Dayat, May 1st, at Tondaligan Beach, Bonuan Gueset.
I’m not aware of the complete details of the other sporting events but I’m certain that the cycling event which I had been asked to direct will be held on April 19.
Cycling will be one of the main highlights of all the sporting events to be conducted because this will be participated in by the top guns in Philippine cycling like former Tour champions Victor Espiritu, Warren Davadilla, Santy Barnachea, Arnel Quirimit and national team members Llyod Reynante, Ronald Gorantes, Mark Julius Bonzo plus our local celebrities like Sherwin Carrera, Reynaldo Navarro, Enrique Domingo and Ericson Obosa, to name a few.
The road battle, “Bangus Festival Cycling Classic”, starts between 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. across the CSI Square along A.B. Fernandez Avenue with Mayor Al and veem Belen expected to flag off the 75 riders.
The participants will ride through the towns of San Fabian via the Bonuan Road, San Jacinto via barangay Angio, Manaoag via barangay Guebel, Mapandan via barangay San Ramon, Mangaldan via barangay Buenlag and back to Dagupan via barangay Bolosan, four times with an approximate distance of 180 kilometers.
Aksyon Radyo Dagupan 1161 Khz AM will do the wheel-by-wheel account from start to finish.
Cash prizes amounting P54,000, trophies and medals are up for grabs with the champion to pocket the P12,000 while first and second runners-up will bag P9,000 and P7,000, respectively.
Fourth finisher earns P5,000 while fifth placer nets P3,000. Eleventh placer up to the last finisher will receive an incentive prize of P300 apiece.
With the support of Mayor Al and Veem Belen, the city can certainly look forward to more interesting cycling events and other sports competitions.
(Philippine cycling legend Jess Garcia, Jr. directs the Bangus Festival Cycling Classic; this piece had appeared originally in his Sunday Punch column, Sports Eye)
(Philippine cycling legend Jess Garcia, Jr. directs the Bangus Festival Cycling Classic; this piece had appeared originally in his Sunday Punch column, Sports Eye)
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