CANCUN — My wife Marj decided to swim at the beach so early in the morning and I was not really up for it. As we walked towards the beach, I saw a group of people carrying their wooden paddles. “Mga athletes guro ni,” I told myself.
Around 10 wooden boats (murag banca sa ato nga walay katig) were one by one arranged as it looked like they were finished training for the day. As I listened to their conversations, I picked up some information that they do their training early in the morning with their teammates. They did their stretching to cool down and a little bit later they went at the back of a restaurant where a water hose was available to rinse themselves.
I then recalled the plan of then City Councilor Sid Ungab and ABS-CBN Davao’s Tina Junsay of organizing a paddle boat race or a dragon boat race event at the Bankerohan River. But with the presence of residential houses beside the river, it was not pushed through as this will not really looked good on television.
To me, it was a good start of the conversation as Councilor Ungab (now Congressman) thought of an idea to improve the situation of the Bankerohan River. Ideally, the residential houses should be hundreds of meters away from the river to keep it clean and in the long run, it would be a great venue for boat racing competitions.
That idea has two goals. To make Bankerohan River clean again and to make it an ideal spot for boat race events. Not only that, it would also be a good sight for a Fluvial Parade. That was an awesome idea!
However, the ever big problem, an unending one, is where to relocate those residents, or how to massively move them away, hundreds meters from the river. It is going to be a big undertaking!
So far, only the Agro-Industrial Foundation College’s side is not occupied by residential houses. Nalunod na lang gani ang barko sa daplin, remember? And to clear up the whole stretch of the river have big monetary costs and undeniably, political impact. So, who will make that political decision? Nalimtan na lang una.
But that idea that was initially discussed by the Honorable Sid and ma’am Tina is worth pursuing. It make take years to do it, yet if we think of the next generation of Dabawenyos, converting that idea into action would greatly benefit them.
Gubot lang ni sa sugod, but I strongly believe, that if our political leaders would take that step, gradually, Bankerohan River will be restored to its former glory.
Just as I witnessed Mexican athletes training at the pristine waters of Cancun, I thought that maybe and someday, the Bankerohan River would become a regular venue for dragon boat racing, rowing and any other water sport.
Dili pa man siguro ulahi Congressman Sid Ungab noh? Natuman man gani ang pag taud sa Davao City-UP Mindanao Sports Complex after many, many years.
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For comments, email mpb_sports@yahoo.com.
