Zambales hosts first Dragon Boat Festival

<B>CANDELARIA, Zambales—</B>Zambales will host a two-day dragon boat competition starting Saturday, the first time that such an event will be held in the province trying to make a name in the field of national sports. Around 12 dragon boat teams will be competing in the First Zambales Dragon Boat Festival, according to Gov. Hermogenes “Jun” Ebdane, who brought the festival here in cooperation with the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF). De La Salle University, Onslaught and Blue Phoenix are among the teams vying for trophies, medals and cash prizes worth P150,000. Ebdane added that the Philippine Army Team that dominated the 10th World Dragon Boat Championships in Tampa. Florida will also see action in the exhibition races. “Dragon boat racing is fast becoming a popular sport, what with the recent victory of the Philippine Team in Florida. So we have decided to bring this event to Zambales, because we want to help promote it and also because we have an ideal venue for this event—the Uacon Lake,” said Ebdane. Ebdane added the 112-hectare Uacon Lake has been named for the past several years as the best inland water body in Central Luzon. “This is flat water, which is really what you need for dragon boat racing. More important, this is not man-made, it’s a natural body of water that teems with marine life,” he said. Zambales Provincial Administrator Jun Omar Ebdane said Day One will start off with races in the 400-meter events for men, women and mixed categories, while Day Two will involve races in the 250-meter event. The PBDF has set team limits to a maximum of 10 members and a minimum of nine in the men’s division, nine maximum and eight minimum for women’s squads, and six to four maximum and five to four minimum for mixed teams. The champion team will receive P30,000, first runner-up P20,000, second runner-up P15,000 and third runner-up P10,000. Zambales has been beefing up its sports program through events like 4x4 truck and motorcycle races, boxing and skimboarding competitions. It hosted the Zamba Sea Sports Festival early this year. The provincial government is also developing the Zambales Sports Center in capital Iba in a bid to host the Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association (CLRAA) meet next year. <B>— JVP, GMA News</B>