Arnis strikes way to city schools

CEBU, Philippines - Arnis, the indigenous Filipino martial art, is now part of the Physical Education curriculum in schools under the Department of Education-Cebu City division.

This was made official after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the officials of the Academy of Eskrima Martial Arts, Inc. and DepEd-Cebu City last Wednesday at Zapatera Elementary School.

The MOA signing ceremony was led by Supreme Grandmaster Dionisio Cañete, founder of the Academy of Eskrima, and Dep-Ed Cebu City schools division superintendent Bianito Dagatan. On hand to witness the landmark event were Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Ed Hayco, commissioner Alan Delantar, DepEd consultant on linkages Charles Gothong, and Master Gerald Cañete, one of the Board of Directors under the newly-formed National Sports Association (NSA) for arnis headed by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.

"This is a historic, momentous occasion for us," said SGM Cañete. "I'm deeply proud and happy to share the art I've studied for the past 72 years to the young ones. Far beyond the elements of this martial art that is uniquely ours, the right values and virtues are foremost to be taught to the children."

"Rest assured that our curriculum is very comprehensive because it has all the components needed for a highly effective arnis development program," added SGM Cañete who is also the chairman emeritus of the World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF), the world's governing body of arnis.

Under the agreement aimed at boosting the city's sports development program for arnis, the Academy of Eskrima will provide free  training to the different coaches, who will then impart their learnings to the students during PE classes.

"It's a long-overdue partnership. It will definitely raise the bar and level of competence of our arnis athletes because they will now be professionalized and organized better," said Hayco.

Dagatan said their tie-up with the Academy of Eskrima bodes well with the mission and vision of their department.

"It (MOA) can achieve not one, but four goals of DepED. First is the development of right values for students who will become athletes," Dagatan said. "It will also enhance the arnis program in our division at the same time contribute to the sports development program of Cebu City. Lastly, we believe that this program can help us contribute to the solution of drug problem in our society."

For his part, Delantar said the move is very timely especially that Cebu City nearly suffered a medal blackout in arnis event during the 2017 Central Visayas Regional Atheletic Association (CVIRAA) Meet last week in Naga City.

"It's very timely. We hope that this partnership will strengthen the City's endeavor to improve the level of competitiveness of our arnis athletes and that they will fare better in future competitions," said Delantar. (FREEMAN)