A TOTAL of 1,900 children mostly from the highland barangays of Cebu City had a fun-filled day at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) after taking part in the culmination of Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Visayas’ Children’s Games last Sunday.
The two-day sporting program, which featured mainstream sports and parlor games, gave the kids — mostly less fortunate and out-of-school youth living in the remote mountain barangays of Cebu City — an avenue to learn different sports.
Initiated by PSC commissioner for Visayas Ramon Fernandez, the Children’s Games started earlier this year, visiting various barangays around the city and offering free sports training.
“Because Cebu City has a lot of barangays, we decided to cluster it by dividing the lowlands and highland barangays. We started earlier this year in the highland barangays particularly in Sudlon all the way to Guba and other places, which is held every weekend,” Fernandez said.
Among those who took part were nine-year-old Cherald Raboy, 11-year-old Jerold Taborada and 10-year-old Ulrich Joshua Bayno, all from Barangay Sapangdaku in Cebu City.
All three go to school at the Napo Elementary School in Sapangdaku.
“Lingaw kaayo mi kay daghan kaayo mi og naapilan nga games unya naa pa jud mi libre training sa among barangay,” said Bayno. “Among gusto kay mahimo ming athletes pud unya makaduwa og competitions. Maayo unta daghan pa ing-ani mahitabo.” (It was such a delight for us since we got to join a lot of games and there are also free training in our barangay. We also want to be athletes and participate in competitions. I hope there are more of these kinds of events that will be held.)
The kids also got free lunch, snacks and lootbags. They also got medals so they would feel like winners.
“It is a continuous program in PSC and we are hoping that barangays in Cebu City will continue this since most LGUs are involved in sports development,” added Fernandez.