by Moses Billacura
Mindanews photo editor Gene Boyd Lumawag’s memory was honored during the 6th GBL Memorial Badminton Tournament last week (a Sunday).
It has been that long and Boboy’s death has remained unsolved along with other journalists killed without mercy. He was killed in Jolo, Sulu for reasons we do not know up to now. He had left ma’am Carol Arguillas, his editor, in the hotel to take photos of the famous Jolo sunset November 12 of that year. Someone approached him at the intersection of Serrantes and Marina streets and fired a .45 caliber slug into his head. He was only 26 years old.
He told Davao Sportswriters Association colleagues in a beer drinking session one night that the work in Jolo would be a dream coverage come true.
Oh, my heart bleeds again everytime I remember it. The murderer took the life of our basketball team’s Allen Iverson.
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Samahang Siklista Kooperatiba Dabaw chair Salvador Paholio Jr. hopes that the warring factions in the Integrated Cycling Federationof the Philippines will genuinely smoke the peace pipe. Let the smoke of peace just fill the air.
The infighting that started years ago has forced Leo Magaway to resign as VP for Mindanao and shifted his energies to managing Great Circle Logistics-Davao branch. Good for him.
Then came Paholio being appointed as PhilCycling vice-president for Mindanao by the
Union Cycliste Internationale-recognized faction led by Bambol Tolentino.
The other faction, headed by businessman Mikee Romero, is recognized by Philippine Olympic Committee president Peping Cojuangco who, unfortunately, does not like Tolentino’s face.
This is a simple case of misunderstanding at the expense of Filipino cyclists. In the last Southeast Asian Games in Laos, our riders were barred from competing because they did not have licenses issued by the UCI. This is the fault of Cojuangco for not accepting Tolentino as the legitimate head and sent athletes to the competition without the proper credentials.
If you can remember, Joey Barba, a Dabawenyo, and Remia Bitbit failed to defend their mountainbike downhill event titles because of that mess. The other 10 riders who travelled to Laos failed also to compete despite an appeal by the SEA Games Council to the UCI.
Paholio said the riders are always caught in the crossfire. It’s a sad, sad situation.
There were reports that the two groups sat down and agreed to “unify” as they prepare for the 16th Asian Games on November 12 to 27 in Guangzhou, China.
This is a joke. Other countries have been preparing smoothly for years and our Manila-based cycling leaders have been fighting for years and now they are “ready” to send the riders to China. Is this just for the sake of representing the country?
Logic will tell you that you should skip the event. Make sure that there is a lot of harmony between the officials first and the athletes have trained well with the backing of the Philippine Sports Commission and corporate supporters before going to the tough battle.
Hey, this is the Asian Games. This is not the SEA Games.
Don’t you agree ‘nong Jun Paholio? We can talk about this over a cup of coffee. Or, two cups.
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RunClub’s Ester Mae T. Rollorata was very kind enough to extend an invitation to Edge Davao-The Business Paper editors to attend the opening of the RunClub at Plaza del Carmen, Assemblyman Artemio Loyola Street, Barrio Obrero.
RunClub offers not only top quality running equipment, the high-end ones that are good for members of the Sunday Runners Club headed by Dr. Oscar Escudero and able vice-president Jonathan Santes, but also nutrition products.
RunClub, which is under Sports Town Inc. managed by Ramon “Monchit” Mackay, boasts of its state-of-the-art Gait Analysis software recently purchased by the company in Germany.
Gait Analysis has been used by a lot of fitness clubs in advanced countries including top universities around the world that maintain a track team. What is does is analyze the way a person runs or walks.
Once the areas of inefficient movement are identified and corrected, the runner or walkathoner can prevent injuries and improve their performance as an athlete.
Those who would want to take up running as a sport, Gait Analysis will help you in evaluating your training program, your foot structure and shoes will be analyzed, your body’s muscles and joints will be tested so that you will become a better and even the best runner in town.
Years ago, I read a book of Jim Fixx titled The Complete Book of Running. That encouraged me to take up running again at the Magsaysay Park where my Papang Marcial first brought me as a kid to join him in his early morning run. After the run, Papang would drive his jeep named the “Envoy” to the Bankerohan market for hot choco, puto maya and ripe mangoes.
But years later, newspaper work, late night drinking sprees and karaoke replaced running. There were no more early morning runs. Instead, I sleep the whole morning, by noon, take my lunch prepared by my late Mamang Lolita, who cooked the best pinakbet, and report to the newspaper office.
There was no such thing as Gait Analysis at the time.
The opening of RunClub will surely encourage those who stopped running as an exercise to take up the sport again once they know what to do after Ester Mae gives you the Gait Analysis results.
I swapped my New Balance running shoes with uncle Jun’s Adidas recently because I like the color of his shoes. He liked my NB because it fits his feet better.
For years, I always preferred Adidas for running, Nike for basketball but stuck to “NB” golf shoes. Not New Balance, but “NB” for Neil Bravo because he gave me the money to buy my first golf shoes at the Lanang Golf and Country Club store just so I could start playing in the Mayor’s Cup Golf Tournament.
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Happy birthday to my inaanak Robyn who is getting prettier everyday, thanks to loving parents Atty. Guillermo Iroy Jr. and wife, Rain. The same greeting goes to pare Joseph “Joy” Encabo, my Mizuno Driver sponsor, and dear friend Michelle Arcangel of the Davao City treasurer’s office.
