Revisiting GenSan in the South
I CANNOT remember the first time I visited GenSan in South Cotabato.
Maybe a Milo Narathon regional race with Rudy Biscocho, I really cannot recall.
What I do remember is covering a big darts tournament there sponsored by Robson. I cannot forget because the finals match ended up early morning already, incidents that are easier to recall for sure.
I was there last Wednesday to Friday together with our Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) staff Elias Samorin and Romma Lyn Mendoza to meet local people from the city government and the regional office of the National Commission of Indigenous People (NCIP).
We discussed next month’s staging of the Indigenous Peoples Games that GenSan is hosting for the first time, thanks to Mayor Lorelei Pacquiao, wife to forner Congressman and professional boxer Bobby Pacquiao, brother to the more famous, make it the most famous celebrity that GenSan has produced, 8-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, now a resident here and you can find him in any of his several mansions in the city.
I guess I do not need to talk about Manny anymore. Everyone in the planet know this guy except that he was able to shift the boxing capital in the South from Bago City to Mindanao, and this came from local people in Bago City themselves when I was there the other week, also for the Visayas IP Games slated end of this month in Bago.
Another celebrity residing here, but more on the infamous side I guess, is another ex world boxing champion Rolando Navarrete, now in his mid 60s and not really popular among many local folks because of his temper. I was told that he loses his cool anytime his monthly pension from the city government is not ready for pick up when he goes there.
I was surprised to learn though that Rolando, known as the “Bad Boy from Dadiangas” has a son who followed his steps in more ways than one. He is a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athlete and even as he claims he is into clean living, no drugs, no booze, he believes he inherited something from his father that he would rather not have.
From Google search, it turned out his wife left him because of anger management issues as Gabriel Dy loses his cool in an instant, he used his mother’s name as he grew up with her and not with Lando.
And I guess I have really aged because during my younger years, I would have gone out of ny way to look for stories in places I visit, and maybe look for Lando for a human interest sports feature story, oh well.
Anyway, back to GenSan, I was really impressed with the way this city has grown, the moment you land and see its new and expanded airport, the biggest in Mindanao I understand, you will share the same impression.
Six lane highways with a lot still under construction, new hotels, popular restaurant brands and malls, and mist of all, the traffic, they all point to progress for this city.
I enjoyed eating seafoods in roadside eateries along Tiongson St., the buko halo halo at Jo’s Inato, one of the best I have had,the beautiful sight at Sarangani Highlands, and the local hospitality, i truly enjoyed GenSan.
Too bad though that we just missed the Tuna Festival by about a week.
The local people are excited about the hosting job they accepted for the IP Games, not that it is the first time as the city has hosted big events in the past including the first BIMP-EAGA and a Batang Pinoy edition, and earlier this year, the regional athletic association meet for SocSarGen at the newl-renovated Acharon Sports Complex that we also visited.
The discussion was lively at the meeting and everyone was looking forward to this big event, and for me, it is always good to work with people who share the same vision of promoting the culture of our cultural minority communities.
I definitely know more about traditional games than I did a year ago and I certainly look forward to returning to GenSan both for the next org meetings and the actual event.
While we were there, PSC Commissioner Fritz Gaston underwent a successful minor knee procedure at the PGH and he just messaged me that everything went well, in fact tomorrow Monday, our team will be there to visit and work right there in his room.
But Saturday was the big day for my family, my eldest daughter Janis, finally tied the knot with her long time fiancee Dr. Ralph Asperas, her classmate at UP-Manila a long time ago.
A small intimate wedding that as I am writing this, I know it will bring tears to my wife’s eyes as she has been waiting for this to happen for a long time, the first wedding among our 3 kids who are no longer kids anymore.
Wedding was held in Bulacan where we are staying overnight, the whole family. Thank you Lord for the blessings.