I could not believe it but Dr.Mauro Puyod of the Davao All-Terrain Bikers Association, CQ Francisco and Joselle Badilla confirmed it to me about the passing of Davao cycling leader Salvador Paholio Jr.
“He died doing what he loves the most, cycling,” said Dr.Maui.
I can still recall the proposal of Councilor Leo “Happy L.A.” Avila about having Bike Lanes in the City of Davao. His early death, however, led also to the early demise of that noble proposal.
I think it’s about time to propose the “Paholio Ordinance”, by vigorously campaigning for having designated Bike Lanes in the city.
When the Daily San Pedro Express was still in existence, I remember early mornings, we have bike boys delivering the newspaper to various points. And goodness gracious, I could not recall any of the bike boys figuring in accidents (most of the bikers are competitors in the annual Marlboro Tour so they are very careful).
The recent event is indeed tragic. We just lost a very kind leader of the cycling community.
I can remember Jun Paholio approaching sportswriters to help him further develop the sport and during the watch of William “Butch” Ramirez as City Sports Chief (third term of Mayor Digong), he found a strong ally.
Coach Butch, now chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission for the second time, actually instructed me to coordinate with regional directors and presidents of our local National Sports Associations(NSAs) and I was glad to serve them to the best of my ability.
In the case of Paholio and cycling, we started a BMX Competition with the help of dxDC-Radio Mindanao Network. So we talked to Dodong Solis at that time. Dodong and his team liked the idea of a partnership and so the partnership was sealed. From BMX competition and finally to the regular road races and Tour de Davao.
With blow-by-blow coverage by the radio network, corporate sponsors are happy of the outcome. Jun Paholio became the star organizer of the races in the years to come.
In fact, it was Paholio who facilitated the formation of a champion squad, the Inday Sara Cycling Team.
Our roles to broker the partnership and to promote it were very fruitful, thanks to the hard-working Jun Paholio, whose girlfriend Jojo would always treat us to sapin-sapin each time we pay them a visit at Jaltan’s, City Hall sports officials and corporate sponsors.
When my favorite Council candidate, sportswoman Goldie Delvo wins in May and takes a seat in the honorable City Council, she would for sure take this proposal seriously.
It may take a lot of work to have Bike Lanes in our beloved City of Davao, but I always believe that each year we grow to become better as a City.
It’s time to have Bike Lanes to prevent tragic deaths of Davao cyclists in the City of Davao.
Pwede ba na incoming Vice Mayor Baste Duterte?
