Black bugs are uninvited, unwelcome guests at Palaro 2015 in Tagum, Davao del Norte

Published May 4, 2015 8:21pm

Black bugs—numerous enough to fill 20 sacks—were the uninvited and unwelcome guests at the 2015 Palarong Pambansa Sunday evening in Tagum City, GMA Davao's Helen Quiñanola reported Monday on GMA News TV's "Balita Pilipinas Ngayon."

The black bugs swarmed all over the complex, including the parking area. Firefighters had to hose down the track and cleanup crews collected 20 sacks of the bugs.

Sofonias Gabonada Jr. of the provincial public information office said the attack could have been due to the bright lights at the complex.

"Kagabi medyo nagkaroon ng black bug attack pero we can manage it. They are attracted sa ilaw, we really need to put off some lights," he said.

Now that the Games have started, provincial sports coordinator Giovanni Gulanes said they have measures to prevent a repeat of the attack.

"(W)e have measures to do that, i-control namin ang liwanag para maiwasan na ... so may plano na tayo para maiwasan yun," he said.

The Palaro was originally scheduled to open on Sunday, May 3 but the opening was moved to May 4 to give way to the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout.

"More than 10,000 athletes from both public and private elementary and secondary schools are expected to compete in various sporting events," the Department of Education said in an earlier statement.

The DepEd also said this year's Palarong Pambansa will be the first under the Palarong Pambansa Law (RA 10588) signed on May 27 last year.

The law mandates the creation of a Palarong Pambansa Board as the lead policy-making and coordinating body for the games.

The following activities are lined up for the 2015 Palarong Pambansa:

May 3 –Governor’s Night at DavNor Sports & Tourism Complex (DNSTC);
May 4 – Thanksgiving Mass with Gov. Del Rosario and Sec. Luistro at the RDR Gym & Cultural Center and the Opening Ceremonies to start in Government Center, Capitol Grounds to DNSTC;
May 5 – Media Night at DNSTC Clubhouse;
May 3-8 – Sports competition;
May 6 – DepEd Night at DNSTC Clubhouse; and
May 9 will be the closing ceremonies

Records to beat

Last year, Luzon excelled through its champions from the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region 3. NCR’s sprint athlete, Jomar Udtohan broke three meet records in the 100M (43.1 s), 200M (21.8 s), and 400M (48.7 s) dash. His performance was even compared to the “Asia’s Sprint Queen” Lydia de Vega-Mercado’s skill in the early 80s, according to the DepEd.

Also, Bryan Pacheco from Central Luzon achieved a new record of 15.32m in the Shot Put category. Pacheco even outdid his old 2013 record in the Javelin Throw, making 62.47m the new number to break.

NCR’s elementary students dominated the Olympic-sized pool with their swimming abilities. Imee Joyce Saavedra’s time of 2:16.72 broke the 2010 record in the 200m Freestyle division, while Seth Isaak Martin broke the long-time 1998 record of 1:07.56 by 35 seconds in the backstroke. The team of Andrew Gibson, Aryan Anastacio, Orlando Reyes and Michael Pin for the 200m relay, set the new time record of 2:06.02.

Western Visayas soared high through Alexis Soqueno’s score of 1.92m in the High Jump category and, exceeded the former record of 1.90m set in the year 2002.

The 1500m run event stands to be Mindanao’s specialty, as athletes Camila Tubiano, Jie Anne Calis and Kevin Capangpangan shattered records, with their time of 4:48.7, 4:44.4 and 4:05.8 respectively. Silver medalist Gilbert Rutaquio from CALABARZON, almost reached Capangpangan’s time by a second.

Some 850 children and youths with special needs are competing in Special Games events: Athletics (100M, 200M, 400M, 4X100M, Shot put, Running & Standing long jump), Swimming (50M Backstroke, Breastroke, Freestyle), Goal ball and Bocce – a ball sport closely related to bowling. — Joel Locsin/ELR, GMA News

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