Children’s meet unwraps amid Mindanao crisis

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – Amidst the turmoil in Mindanao, the 2017 Mindanao Children’s Games, part of the Sports for Peace program of the Philippine Sports Commission, opened yesterday at the Almendras Gym here in Davao City.

Minda Councilor Antonette Principe-Castrodes represented Mayor  Sara Duterte-Carpio as keynote speaker. Mayor Duterte-Carpio cited sports as “a suitable diversion from delinquency” and welcomed the PSC’s efforts to make sports accessible to the youth.

Rio Olympics weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz was on hand to lend inspiration to the young participants.

“I started in sports when I was 11 years old,” Diaz said.  She was about the same age as the participants when the sport which would eventually thrust her into national spotlight beckoned.

PSC chairman William Ramirez, the man behind the project, said the true gold mine in sports is discovered not in high-level competitions but in “the children whose lives we touch and change through sports.”

Almost 500 children 12 years-old and below participated in the 3-on-3 boys’ basketball and girls’ volleyball. Larong Pinoy games will be played today with about 600 kids from 30 barangays participated.

Davao is on “hold and secure” status, downgraded from a lockdown the other day when the Marawi siege erupted in that city and Martial Law was declared over Mindanao by President Duterte. Mayor Duterte-Carpio allowed the Children’s Games to push through despite heightened security measures in Davao City, requesting organizers to schedule all activities during daylight.