BY FELIPE V. CELINO

ROXAS City — The “poor” performance of the Capiz delegation during the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet in Iloilo City yesterday was due to the lack of budget and ample time for the athletes’ practice.

The delegation from the province placed 4th in the overall ranking.

This was confirmed by Ronilo Tu, sports coordinator of the Department of Education.

He said the P3-million budget from the provincial government was all spent for the athletic meet.

The athletes from the province were only given ten days — it was supposedly a month — to practice.

Though having the potentials, players from Capiz lacked the stamina to continue competing with their contenders from the other provinces, Tu said.

During the WVRAA Meet in the previous years, Capiz has always been the perennial third placer, even dominating Negros Occidental and Iloilo provinces.

In the past two years, Capiz has landed on 4th and 5th places, respectively.

The Capiz delegation totaled to about 600 — 464 of them were athletes while the rest were coaches and chaperons.

NO LGU, CITY GOV’T SUPPORT
Saddened by the outcome of the competition, Capiz Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Eveleth Gamboa said the P3-million budget was not enough to feed their delegation and for the other expenses during the competitions.

Nevertheless, she expressed gratitude to Gov. Victor Tanco for the all-out support.

“There were a lot of potential athletes from Capiz. But the problem there was the lack of financial support from the local government units,” she said over dyOW Bombo Radyo yesterday.

Only six town mayors gave their share — some of them gave P10,000 while others gave P5,000, Gamboa said.

She said she even solicited a small amount from teachers to augment their meager budget.

This city government did not give any financial support to the Capiz delegation this year.

It was learned that every year, the city government donates some P200,000 to support the delegation for the sports competition.

“What happened might be a wake-up call and a learning experience for all of us,” Gamboa stressed./PN

LAPSUS CALAMI

WHY CAPIZ PLACED 4TH IN WVRAA
THE main reason why Capiz placed only 4th in the recent Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet is budgetary constraint.
The provincial government of Capiz had given a total of P3 million only.
The whole amount was used for food, transportation, uniforms and other needs of the province’s delegation.
Because of this financial problem, the athletes were given only 10 days to practice.
In the past WVRAA Meet, Capiz used to be No. 3. Today, however, it has been overtaken by Antique or Aklan.
Makahuloya?
Say mo, Mayor Allan?
Ex-Mayor Vic “dies-dies” laughing!