Thursday, January 31, 2008 Controversial city meet finally gaining ground By Lynde Salgados
ONLY two years since its inception, the Cagayan de Oro City Triangular Meet opened its second edition Wednesday at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Center.
Unlike in the past when it was still known as the City Dual Meet, the spirit of competition and the lively atmosphere were all there to the delight of spectators who come in by batch and gradually pooling to a sizable number at the Palaro venue's main grandstand.
With the parade, giant streamers and torch-bearing athletes formed part of the opening ceremony.
"Sa una grabe kamingaw mora'g wala lay nahitabo. Karon makapakurat kay mora'g Palarong Pampook na ang kabibo (Events like these were of no significant value in the past but it's a completely different story now that it can even be mistaken for a regional meet)," Tony Galpo, a regular Palaro spectator, said.
In-school sports followers were quick to attribute the welcome development to the smoldering rivalry between the two private school sports bodies -- the long-surviving Prisaa and newcomer Cosaa -- which are the main characters of the triangular meet along with the public school representatives.
Cosaa's founding head Gerardo "Boboy" Sabal of Xavier University agreed.
DepEd's athletic director in the city, Delia Agbon, said the ongoing triangular meet draws the participation of some 287 athletes, coaches, and officials from the Cosaa, 330 from the Prisaa, and 400 plus from the public schools.
"Next year we can expect a bigger competition as plans are afloat to divide the public school delegation into two: the first district and second district," Agbon said.
Noticeably, however, Sabal's counterpart City Councilor Adrian Barba of Liceo de Cagayan University -- who is chair of the Prisaa -- was a no-show in the opening rites.
The long-trusted ally Teddy Pagaspas of Southern Philippine College (SPC) represented Barba.
About a dozen sports disciplines including swimming, athletics, basketball, baseball, taekwondo, softball, chess, volleyball, lawn tennis, table tennis, arnis and badminton are being disputed in the two-day event serving as final qualifying games for the city bets to the Northern Mindanao Regional Palarong Pampook.
Cagayan de Oro city and the province of Misamis Oriental will be hosting the regional meet in February.
The annual Palarong Pambansa, otherwise known as the final destination of top-performing elementary and secondary athletes nationwide, will be held on April 20-26 in Palawan.
