By Claro A. Lanipa
PAGADIAN CITY – The first Batang Pinoy Mindanao Qualifying Leg 2014 has been held here last Sept. 10-14 with the provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur as host.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) in partnership with Philippine Olympic Commission (POC), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Department of Education (DepEd) has chosen this city to be the venue of the four-day sports competitions attended by players and athletes from all over Mindanao.
In his welcome message during the opening ceremonies, Governor Antonio Cerilles emphasized that “education and athletics should go hand in hand so that these young people who will represent the country will not regret what they have done when they were still young.”
He also cited a lesson learned from a former Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, Anthony Villanueva, a security guard in Australia who died very poor.
“Today, in my mind is a step towards a right direction, let us do it the best we can do,” Cerilles stressed.
The sports competition was participated in by 93 delegations from the municipalities, cities, and provinces in Mindanao with more than 7,000 young athletes competing in the different sports events.
Batang Pinoy 2014 has been conducted in pursuance of Executive Order No. 44 also known as the Philippine Youth Games-Batang Pinoy.
The Qualifying Leg for the Visayas will be held in Kalibo, Aklan on October 21-25, 2014 while for Luzon it will be in Naga City on November 11-15, 2014 and the National Finals will be in Bacolod City on Decmber 9-13, 2014.
Meanwhile, PSC Commissioner Jose Luis Gomez officially declared the 4-day sportsfest opened which was followed by a fireworks display.
