MALOLOS CITY – Young athletes’ quest for glory started yesterday as 2011 Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association (CLRAA) meet formally opened at the Bulacan Sports Complex (BSC) here on Sunday with Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., handing P100,000 in cash as reward to would be overall champions.
Edna Zerrudo, division superintendent of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Bulacan, said a total of more than 8,000 elementary and high school students will compete for the much awaited annual sports competition, excluding about 1,000 officiating officials.
Members of the 18 delegations were billeted at 18 public schools in this city and in the towns of Calumpit and Guiguinto where sports events are being held.
The opening ceremony was held on Sunday afternoon with a parade of athletes on colorful uniforms from the Bulacan Provincial Capitol compound to the sprawling BSC here.
It was highlighted by a keynote speech of Senator Revilla who hailed grass roots sports programs like the CLRAA as a way of discovering athletes that will later represent the country in different international sports competitions including the Olympics.
But what made the 9,000 participating athletes and officials raucous during Revilla’s speech was his promise to give a total of P100,000 cash incentives to the game’s over-all champions.
The first half of the said P100,000 cash incentive is intended for the overall champion in the elementary division, and the other P50,000 is meant for the over-all champion for the secondary division.
“It is part of my earnings from my TV show Kap’s Amazing Stories,” Revilla said.
However, some participants said after the opening ceremonies that the cash incentives maybe part of Revilla’s attempt to promote his TV show as its viewers are being snatch by a talent show on TV5 which share the same time slot with “Kap’s Amazing Stories.”
This writer tried to get comments from Revilla, but he immediately boarded his vehicle while being shielded by his head of security, actor King Gutierrez.
Edna Zerrudo, division superintendent of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Bulacan, said a total of more than 8,000 elementary and high school students will compete for the much awaited annual sports competition, excluding about 1,000 officiating officials.
Members of the 18 delegations were billeted at 18 public schools in this city and in the towns of Calumpit and Guiguinto where sports events are being held.
The opening ceremony was held on Sunday afternoon with a parade of athletes on colorful uniforms from the Bulacan Provincial Capitol compound to the sprawling BSC here.
It was highlighted by a keynote speech of Senator Revilla who hailed grass roots sports programs like the CLRAA as a way of discovering athletes that will later represent the country in different international sports competitions including the Olympics.
But what made the 9,000 participating athletes and officials raucous during Revilla’s speech was his promise to give a total of P100,000 cash incentives to the game’s over-all champions.
The first half of the said P100,000 cash incentive is intended for the overall champion in the elementary division, and the other P50,000 is meant for the over-all champion for the secondary division.
“It is part of my earnings from my TV show Kap’s Amazing Stories,” Revilla said.
However, some participants said after the opening ceremonies that the cash incentives maybe part of Revilla’s attempt to promote his TV show as its viewers are being snatch by a talent show on TV5 which share the same time slot with “Kap’s Amazing Stories.”
This writer tried to get comments from Revilla, but he immediately boarded his vehicle while being shielded by his head of security, actor King Gutierrez.
