CVIRAA & Pablo

CVIRAA 2012 will stand out to be one of the most memorable editions in recent history of this annual sports spectacle. While the usual took place: Cebu City winning the over-all title, Cebu Province closing at second place over-all and the over-all running of the games going smoothly, the CVIRAA had an unexpected guest who decided to play the role of Scrooge early into the Christmas season. Pablo is his name and killjoy “KJ” is his nickname.

Looking back after finally seeing TV footage of the damage brought about by Pablo in Mindanao, I must now add that he was more than just your ordinary KJ or Scrooge. He was ruthless, merciless and didn’t have any mercy. For those of us who were in Dumaguete this past week and who didn’t have power and were cut off from TV, all we had was word of mouth news from tricycle drivers to hear about how bad it was down south. But what did Pablo do to the CVIRAA? He “only” cut off power to all of Dumaguete City and its neighboring towns which also hosted some visiting teams. He toppled down power lines, displaced the Dumaguete’s passenger terminal for fast crafts, and knocked down some of the trees along the city’s famous boulevard. Roofs, tarps and light materials were also seen flying. Some radio or cell site towers were also knocked down. The bottom line is that Pablo gate-crashed into the CVIRAA with evil intentions. But how did the CVIRAA react? How did the officials and athletes face up to Pablo? How did the athletes’ parents and supporters reply? Did they back down and give in? Did they surrender and bow to his “powers?”

 Well, we’re proud witnesses to the CVIRAA’s standing up as true athletes that they are, amidst adversity and Pablo. The CVIRAA could’ve just folded and gone home crying and whining, calling for a postponement of the games. But it wasn’t meant to end this way.  Little did we know that the eye of the typhoon was right below us around 30 kilometers south of Dumaguete as per the texts we received from Cebu. Another web-based report indicated that Pablo was only two kilometers south of Dumaguete! The irony of it all is that we had no access to news since power conked out as early as 3pm of Tuesday. And so after taking a mandatory break on Tuesday to make way for Pablo’s arrival, the games of the CVIRAA resumed at 1pm on Wednesday after the organizers and the tournament managers met for their contingency plans and revised schedules on Wednesday morning. Some athletes even managed to squeeze in practice time on Tuesday morning (before Pablo arrived) and Wednesday morning when the skies had cleared. Some local surfers even did their stuff before the crowd at the boulevard Tuesday afternoon! Then at around 1pm on Wednesday, the show resumed. It may sound so simple, but underlying all this was the fact that around 90% of the CVIRAA athletes didn’t have power in their respective “foster homes,” the various public schools in Dumaguete and nearby Valencia, Sibulan and Maslog. Without power, one can assume that rest and sleep, which is an athlete’s most precious commodity at games like this, was hampered. Quite naturally, stress, fatigue and headaches became an added carry-on baggage for all. For those who opted to stay in pension houses, dorms or private residences that didn’t have a generator, it was a nightmare of a blackout. The more fortunate ones with more means weren’t affected since they stayed at places which had standby gensets running for the four straight days while power was out. A quick survey and rounds by this writer revealed a 100% occupancy rate at the hotels and pension houses whose gensets were up and running, making Dumaguete city sound like a beehive of mini power plants in the middle of the night.

The good news out of all this is that the athletes came back with a vengeance the moment the games resumed on Wednesday afternoon. Gone were the complaints and whining about Pablo. Everyone performed as if to show Pablo that they weren’t going to be knocked down. Knock them down yes, but not knock them out (with or without power). One of the most admirable traits about young athletes is that they’re all “footloose and fancy free.” They never thought about the blackout and went out and performed. They ran, they played, they competed. They beat Pablo.

This brings us to what happens next. With Dumaguete and the province of Negros Oriental hosting the Palarong Pambansa in 2013, Pablo will have to be inputted to their planning. This is no longer a regional competition; it’s a national endeavor which will need more TLC and attention. For starters, I’m sure Dumaguete City will pick itself up to be more prepared. All pension houses and hotels should have a genset on standby at all times for the convenience of the Palaro’s guests. I felt sad when the city’s tallest hotel building (which was launched only in November) turned pitch black since it didn’t have a genset for its guests. The city’s biggest (and only) mall and other big establishments became instant “tambayans” for all who wanted to keep cool when the sun came out. For others, it was the only place to charge cell phones (including this writer, a fellow sportswriter and Bro. Mari who “volted in” for the task).

 What a week indeed for CVIRAA athletes and officials. Stand up. Be proud. Pablo couldn’t knock you out. You came back, competed, played and rocked!

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Time-out: Happy birthday to Alvin Lacambacal. >>> Kudos to Team Mandaue for placing third in the CVIRAA!      >>> You can reach me at [email protected].