TWO fishermen from the village of Mariki in Zamboanga City paddled their way to the grand prize in this year's Regatta, a vinta sail race held on Sunday, October 5, that forms part of the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival 2019 activities.
The City Hall Information Office said Frankie Apalad and Abibasar Asmad bested over 200 other vinta operators and went home with P30,000 cash prize, P10,000 worth of gift certificates, a vinta outboard motor and T-shirts after the race.
As in the past, the Regatta drew people from all walks of life, making the event one of the well-attended Hermosa Festival event organized by the City Government in honor of Nuestra Señora La Virgen del Pilar, the city's patron saint whose feast day will be on Saturday, October 12.
The City Hall said taking second place were Muktar Cuya and Patta Isnang of the village of Sinunuc with a P12,000 cash prize; third placer were Pascual Wade and Jade Wade with P10,000 cash prize; fourth place - Jun Ambang and Ben Ambang of Taluksangay with P7,000 cash prize; and fifth place - Faisal Baihalki and Jopot Kamlum of Kasanyangan with P5,000 cash prize.
Omar Ladja of Sinunuc, the perennial Regatta winner, won the Best Vinta Design special award with a P5,000 cash prize.
All the winners received gift certificates from Shop-o-Rama Department Store and outboard vinta motor each and T-shirts courtesy of Honda Philippines, Unique motors and Safety Enterprises.
Non-winners in the final round got P3,000 each, while those who joined the elimination rounds got P1,000 as consolation prize each. (SunStar Zamboanga)