ITS first hosting of the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) Meet last year didn’t pan out too well. But in its historic second straight hosting of the multi-sporting event, the City of Naga more than redeemed itself.
“If I have to grade our hosting from 1 to 10 and 10 is the highest, I will give a grade of 10. Our second hosting was a job well done,” said Arthur Villamor, city administrator of the City of Naga.
The annual event ended yesterday with the City of Naga finishing eighth in the overall ranking with seven golds, nine silvers and 19 bronzes.
Naga was the first city to have hosted the meet for two years in a row, but last year’s hosting was marred by an ugly incident where a school principal and a teacher were robbed at gunpoint in their billeting quarter.
“We were grateful that we’re given a chance to prove that we can host Cviraa well,” said Villamor.
Ensuring a peaceful Cviraa hosting was one of the concerns when Supt. Gregorio Galsim took over as the city’s chief of police last October.
Before the start of the Cviraa, members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams (BPATs) were given a refresher course. The BPATs were used as force multipliers for our police personnel,” said Galsim.
A total of 176 personnel from the police, army and navy were tasked to secure the meet.
Each billeting quarter had seven assigned policemen apart from the BPATs personnel.
As a result, only one minor traffic incident was recorded in the duration of the meet.
“We were satisfied with the way our police, led by Supt. Galsim, handled the security,” said Villamor.
While the city has proven it can host Cviraa, Villamor said Naga isn’t ready yet to host the Palarong Pambansa.
“For us to host the Palaro well, we have to have a bigger grandstand, a bigger viewing area in our swimming pool and improve the venues for the archery, baseball and softball events,” Villamor said.
Villamor added that the city achieved a lot with the successful hosting of Cviraa.
“We were able to promote our culture, that the Nagahanons are friendly people. We were able to show that Naga is business-friendly locality. Since we were able to prove that Naga is a peaceful and liveable city, economy will boom as investors will come in,” Villamor stressed.