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ANTIQUE, Philippines – Every student-athlete aims to represent their region in the Palarong Pambansa, considered as the biggest inter-school competition organized by the Department of Education (DepEd).
So for Nerio Cabije and Donald Villacorta, the inclusion of Pencak Silat in this year’s games serves as a blessing as it gave them a chance to finally compete in the annual multi-sporting event.
Cabije and Villacorta, both 16, have backgrounds in martial arts, which is why they were recommended for the sport when the Central Visayas Regional Athletics Association (CVRAA) needed representatives for pencak in the secondary division.
Cabije used to dabble in arnis and taekwondo while Villacorta has been into taekwondo since the third grade.
“Lipay kaayo nga naka Palaro mi,” said both boys. (We’re very happy because we’re able to be in the Palaro.)
Even their coach, Marbin Geneyas, is a former karatedo coach.
As first-timers in the sport as well as in the Palaro, both are hoping to bag the gold despite being only trained for 3 weeks. According to the two athletes, they were only tapped in the last week of March.
Unexpected
Both are Grade 11 students of the Don Carlos A. Gothong Memorial National High School. The school actually prepared representatives for the sport in the Palarong Pambansa but it was only for the elementary division.
The sport, however, was canceled for the elementary division and instead they were asked to send representatives for the secondary division.
Because of the short time of preparation, Cabije and Villacorta will only be competing in the sparring event as they no longer have time to focus on the form event.
Cabije will be competing in the 45-kilogram class while Villacorta will be seeing action in the 45- to 48-kilogram category.
Geneyas said that should Cabije and Villacorta continue with Pencak Silat, they might get a chance to get a college scholarship in state colleges that offer 15 slots.
Pencak Silat begins its competition on Tuesday, April 25.
Aside from Pencak Silat, two other sports are being introduced as demonstration events this year – dancesports and aero gymnastics. Medals won in these events will not be counted in the overall medal tally. – Rappler.com
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