MARIVELES, Bataan – Some 200 bikers from different parts of the country participated in the 7th “Padyakan sa Bataan” held at a hill here overlooking the Bataan mountain range, the sea and Corregidor Island.
“Ito’y bilang paggunita sa mga yumaong bayani noong Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig,” Mariveles Mayor Jesse Concepcion said in his welcome speech.
“This is a kick off of the weeklong Bataan Day celebration as part of the Araw ng Kagitingan nationally observed nationwide,” Gila Garcia, daughter and representative of Gov. Enrique Garcia, said.
Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor is in commemoration of the “Fall of Bataan” to the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army on April 9, 1942.
“Ang mountain biking na ito ay bilang promosyon din ng ecotourism at sports tourism ng Bataan upang ipakita ang magandang bundok, karagatan at kagandahan ng ugaling mga taga-Bataan,” Gila said.
Gila’s younger brother, Rep. Albert Garcia of Bataan’s Second District, is the main sponsor of the event with Mariveles Mayor Concepcion and the Bataan Tourism council chaired by her mother, Vicky Garcia.
Alice Pizarro, wife of the Pilar town mayor and vice-chair of the Bataan Tourism Council, was on hand to welcome the bikers. “Bikers I have talked with consider the mountain bike trail inMariveles as every biker’s dream,” Gila said.
This was confirmed by Eboy Roselada, event organizer of the Bataan Trail Riders and Adventurers Network.
“Bikers who have joined races abroad like Indonesia have said that the Mariveles race course is at par with those in other countries,” he said.
“This is indeed every racer’s dream because aside from the race course, it is surrounded by the beautiful Bataan mountain range, the West Philippine Sea and Corregidor Island,” Roselada himself a mountain biker
said.
