BakuNaga Dragon Boat Race slated December 16

CEBU, Philippines — Nine teams will vie for supremacy in the 2017 BakuNaga Dragon Boat Race set on December 16-17 at the Boardwalk in Naga City.

Defending their turf are the Gruppo Habagat Dragon Boat Team, Philippine Accessibility Disability Services Inc. Adaptive Dragon Boat Racing Team,  Ariya Dragon Boat Team, Cebu Fireblades Dragon Boat, Poseidon Dragon Boat Team and the newly-formed Accenture paddlers.

Providing challenge are out-of-town participants including Bohol Paddlers , Dumaguete City's Yellow Fin Dragon Boat Team and Biliran State University (BSU)- Tacloban paddlers.

Being one of the highlights for Naga City's new Boardwalk, exciting race features the 400m open and mixed categories.

"Our first dragon boat race in Naga was last October but it was just an exhibition race. This time, with the full support of Mayor Kristine Chiong, we will do another one and this time expect it to be more competitive," said race organizer Randy Su.

The race name BakuNaga was coined from the words Bakunawa, a dragon in Philippine mythology and the city's name itself. (FREEMAN)