Friday, January 04, 2008 Chess followers clamor to bring back `home' By Lynde Salgados
LOCAL chess enthusiasts find it more appropriate to start 2008 by airing an appeal to Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Constantino Jaraula to provide them a home they can call their own.
"We deserve to have a proper chess venue in the city," says an Oro chess enthusiast. The chess players are temporarily seeking shelter at the Capitol Chess Park of Misamis Oriental.
Last December, Mayor Jaraula reportedly ordered the RTA (Roads and Traffic Association) to include the Divisoria Chess Plaza near the Amphi Theatre in its so-called "Clean and Clear" operation that primarily targeted the city's sidewalk vendors.
Lawyer Bobby Goking, who is a member of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) and a known chess supporter, however, avers that the chess plaza has long been considered as a vital part of the City Park as it promotes sports development apart from establishing an institution among its followers who used to visit the place everyday.
A City Hall insider who recently dropped by at Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro Office recently, however, warned that the mayor intends to show his political will by wiping out not just the sidewalk vendors and sports structures in the area but business structures as well that enjoy favorable treatment from the past administration.
"Sooner or later, laras na tanan nga mga "eyesores" diha sa Divisoria mao nga medyo sugod na ang away sa duha," the City Hall employee (who obviously did not want to be identified) said without elaborating.
