STRICTER security measures are in place for the staging of the Hunat Dabaw 7 Bubble Run for a Cause on September 8 in an out-and-back course from The Royal Mandaya Hotel (TRMH), J. Palma Gil Street, Davao City.

TRMH general manager Benjamen Banzon, Jr., in a press conference Friday, August 9, said, “We are not much worried since this is our seventh year. We are strengthening security control measures. We were even scrutinized before we got our permit for this run on how we would manage emergency situations.”

He issued this statement on the heels of the ill-fated death of a triathlete who recently joined but failed to finish in the Kadayawan Duathlon 2019 that was held at Villa Josefina Resort Village in Toril.

He said ratio of runners to the medical team is intact and security personnel from the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) will be beefed up by Dasia Security Agency.

Non-uniformed security forces will also be deployed to ensure the order of the fun run and safety of some 3,500 participants expected.

“We are confident of these security measures. We are really doing our best so it would be a wonderul experience for the rest of us,” Banzon said, adding that all proceeds, which he hopes could reach P500,000, will be given to GMA Kapuso Foundation for the bridge construction that already started late last month.

GMA Kapuso Foundation executive vice president and COO Rikki Escudero-Catibog, for her part, thanked the partnership with TRMH in recent years.

She said the event, dubbed as Takbo Para sa Tulay ng Pagbabago sa Paquibato, will help raise funds for a solid 50-meter hanging bridge made of steel, cement and expanded metal mesh that would benefit some 2,500 residents from two sitios in Barangay Mapula, Paquibato District.

Catibog said, “The DPWH (Deparment of Public Works and Highways) conducted a soil test there. We assure the residents that the bridge will be strong enough to withstand even motor vehicles. We want to give them best that will be there to last for several generations.”

While they initally earmarked P2 million, she added the project could even exceed P3 million as it would be a wider bridge than what was originally planned.

Hunat Dabaw chairperson Megzyl Rose Jolejole, meanwhile, said registration will close on August 31.

Entry fees are P470 (3K), P520 (5K) and P570 (10K) inclusive of singlet, race bib, breakfast buffet and raffle coupon.

The event is part of the hotels’ 21st anniversary celebration.