Team Cordillera

Creating champions within

The Official Newsletter of the Cordillera Administrative Athletic Association



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Team Cordillera hopes for a better finish

Duterte to open 2017 Palarong Pambansa

JOG FOR THE WIN. The volleyball girls brave the morning sun for their warm-up jogging at the Antique National School grounds. Photo by Marvin John Flores SAN JOSE, Antique – President Rodrigo R. Duterte will kick start this year’s Palarong Pambansa as it formally opens today with around 10,000 student-athletes from the 18 competing regions. Carrying the theme, “2017 Palarong Pambansa: Converges Youth Power, Builds Sustainable Future,” the biggest sports event backed by the Department of Education (DepEd) which culminates on April 29 promises to showcase youth empowerment through athleticism, sportsmanship, discipline, and camaraderie. This year’s Palaro elevated wushu, wrestling, billiards, and futsal as

regular sports bringing in a total of 22 sports disciplines to be contested in both elementary and secondary levels. Demonstration sports this year includes pencak silat, aerobic gymnastics, dancesports, walkathon, and sepak takraw girls. Sports to be contested under the Special Para games are swimming, bocce, goalboal, and track events. Meanwhile, Team Cordillera hopes for a better finish this year. Since the arrival of the first batch of athletes last April 15 and the second batch on Tuesday, athletes and coaches have powered up their in-house training and acclimatization. According to DepEd CAR

regional sports coordinator Agustin G. Gumuwang, the preparation of athletes bound for the Palaro has started in their schools and respective provinces after the regional selection last February. Gumuwang also revealed that some coaches and athletes like in wushu have partnered with trainers of international reputation like world champion Divine Wally. “We are very fortunate that our trainers and coaches have partnered with world champions like Divine. Her presence gives a further boost to our desire for a higher rank,” Gumuwang said. DepEd Cordillera OIC Regional Director Beatriz

Volume I, Issue 1

Antique gears up for 2017 Palaro The situation in Antique heats up as the province prepares to host for the first time the Palarong Pambansa which will commence on Sunday, April 23. Division Information Officer of the Department of Education in Antique Celestino S. Dalumpines IV said that despite the difficulties and adjustments made, the province is almost ready to launch the event and to welcome the crowd for the Palaro. “As of today, we are 90% prepared, ready naman lahat ang billeting quarters,” he said. With a budget of more than P100 million, the provincial government of Antique in partnership with The Schools Division of Antique started their preparations since January. In an earlier press release, Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao said that no major facilities are needed to be built for the Palaro but some minor cosmetic improvements will be done to the already existing venues. Antique will be expecting more than 12,000 athletes and thousands of sports enthusiasts who will be visiting the province to participate in the biggest sporting event of the country./Andrew Catayao III G. Torno has also expressed optimism that the rank of CAR will improve from its dismal 9th place overall finish last year. Continue to page 3

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OPINION/NEWS

Our quest for gold starts now! The Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association used to be one of the brightest stars in the annual Palarong Pambansa. We ranked fifth place overall in 2014 and fourth in 2015. Unfortunately, the region landed ninth last year. At the end of this year’s tournament, will the CARAA be able to regain its spot in the limelight or will EDITORIAL it totally get itself out of the top? “You are not going there [to the Palarong Pambansa] alone. You are going there as a team, as a region – as one Cordillera, so do your best for the region,” Baguio City mayor Mauricio Domogan stressed during the Sendoff Program for CAR delegates a week ago. Reflecting on this line, many of the athletes who are qualified for the Palaro don’t seem determined to win anymore. Some don’t take practices seriously and some just don’t exert enough effort. Perhaps it is because of the hot weather but this shouldn’t be an excuse. Athletes are known to adjust well to this kind of environment. To some athletes, they are already contented to have reached the national level and have travelled to another place. They do not mind losing in their respective events because as they say, “Dibale, nakarating sa Palaro.” If this is how an athlete thinks, then he doesn’t have the heart of a true, dedicated athlete. A dedicated athlete is someone who finishes the race with the same strength and agility he has when the race started. On the other hand, there are also those athletes who really train hard because their eyes are set on the medals. They strive hard not only for themselves but for their parents, for their school, for the region. Well, it is not only the athletes who are responsible for this because the coaches are just as important. The motivation of the coaches will help the players perform at their best or at least do what they could to win the game. The coaches are the most influential people the athletes could look up to during the preparations. The competition is about to start. Many have come to grab the golds, but only few will be able to take them home. Let us be one of those few!

EDITORIAL BOARD Andrew G. Catayao III Krisha Mae W. Bongalos Krisha Mae W. Bugaling Jandale T. Sugot Writers Karen L. Bosaing Adviser Georaloy I. Palao-ay Editorial Consultant Consultants Agustin B. Gumuwang, Ph.D. Soraya T. Faculo, Ph.D. Beatrice G. Torno, Ph.D., CESO IV

DUTERTE TO OPEN....1 “We have to be optimistic and continually motivate our athletes and coaches to be at their best to ensure a better overall finish,” Torno said. The Regional Director also expressed that they have enough budget to cover the transportation, food, uniform, and allowances especially of the athletes and that they have also increased the incentives for medalists. “The gold medalists will receive PhP 3,000 while the silver and bronze medalists will receive PhP 2,000 and PhP 1,000 respectively. We will also give these incentives right there and

then,” Torno added. A total of 473 athletes comprises this year’s Team Cordillera. Fourteen athletes are from the Province of Abra, 30 from Apayao, 21 from Mt. Province, 20 from Ifugao, 61 from Kalinga and Tabuk City, 81 from Benguet, and 246 from the City of Baguio. Under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10588, Palarong Pambansa is recognized as one of the country’s premier national sporting event and the primary avenue for providing in-school sports opportunities to boost youth’s physical, intellectual, and social well-being. /BGTorno with reports from GLIP

Result of Cleanest, Orderly and Eco-friendly Quarters/ Rooms, Building and Area | April 20 & 21

*Room #5, Area 1 (SPED Girls) and Room #16, Area 1 (Lawn Tennis) *Building 2, Area 3 and Building 2, Area 1 *Area 1 and Area 3

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NEWS

SPED student-athletes ready to prove mettle in 2017 Palarong Pambansa PASIG CITY, April 22, 2017 –Some 900 Special Education (SPED) athletes are expected to troop to San Jose de Buenavista, Antique to compete in the different categories of Special (Para) Games in the 2017 Palarong Pambansa and prove that no physical barriers can restrict them from going for the gold. The special games,which was first included during the 2008 Palarong Pambansa held in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, will include events such as athletics, goalball, bocce, and swimming. Student-athletes with intellectual disability (ID), and who are visually impaired

(VI) and orthopedically handicapped/amputee (OH) enrolled in SPED classes in the public and private schools for school year (SY) 2016-2017 will participate in the different special games events. Each region is allowed to field in a maximum of 55 delegates composing of athletes and coaches. For the age category: visually impaired (open category, but up to 25 years old only); intellectual disability (15 years old to 25 years old only); ortho/leg amputee (open category, but up to 25 years old only); and goalball/bocce/swimming (open category, but up to 25

Over 80 campus journalists from the different provinces were asked to cover the country’s biggest sports’ event in Antique from April 23 to 29. For the first time in the Pambansang Palaro history, the Department of Education (DepEd) in partnership with MovePH, Rappler’s civic engagement arm, tapped campus journalists to cover the event. Each region was asked to send four journalists along with a school paper adviser to be a part of this activity. To equip them with the necessary skills and tools to cover the event, MovePH conducted a three-day

multimedia workshop in the Schools Division of Antique Rooftop from April 20 to 22. "I believe that the trainings and actual handson coverage provide great opportunities for the students so they can apply what they have learned in school," Domingo Cueto, a school paper adviser from Rosario Elementary School in Cavite, said. Apart from the daily multimedia stories and daily wRaps required by Rappler, each region will submit a compilation of their works through a newsletter to the office of the Department of Education on May 13.*

Campus journos to cover Palaro

LET’S DANCE! The CAR delegates rocked the night with their gongs during the Welcome Program last night.* years old only). The competition categories are the following: Visually Impaired – athletics (100m, standing long jump, and shot put) and goalball Intellectually Disabled – athletics (100m, 200m, 400m, 4X 100m, running long jump and shot put), bocce (single, double, and team), and swimming (50M backstroke, Freestyle, Breaststroke) Ortho / Amputee – athletics (shot put) and swimming (50m backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke) Aside from awarding the winning athletes first, second, and third places, medals will also be given to the fourth to eighth outstanding athletes per category. Dennis Esta, Tournament Manager for Para Games, iterated that athletes with disabilities will be well-taken care of, "In-assure sa amin na

magiging accessible naman yung magiging tirahan ng mga athletes at mabibigyan sila ng priority pagdating sa billeting quarters." In a press conference in March, DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones shared a story about a blind runner who carried the torch in a regional Palaro. “I thought this is what democracy is all about. Inclusion is what it is all about. This is what we mean when we say no one is left behind.” Briones said. The playing venue for athletics and swimming will be at the Binirayan Sports Complex while goalball and bocce will be held at the Antique SPED Center. This year’s Palaro, with the theme “2017 Palarong Pambansa: Converges Youth Power, Builds Sustainable Future,” will be held from April 23 to 29 in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique. /DepEd Press Release

ANNOUNCEMENT Program Timeline|Sunday, April 23, 2017 6:30-7:30a.m. Breakfast 10 a.m. Assembly at the Mess Hall/ Early lunch 11:30 a.m. Start of Parade (ANS to Binirayan Sports Complex) 11:30 a.m. Start of Opening Program

Cordillera, region of wonder, hail! Beloved land, to you we shall not fail. Honor and fame,to you we strive to bring. Your glory won, we shall forever sing! ONE TEAM, ONE CORDILLERA!