More work needs to be done for the Cordilleras

MANILA, Philippines - They may be unknown, ordinary individuals when they joined the 2011 Globe Cordillera Challenge held in Baguio City recently. But as soon as they crossed the finish line at the Benguet provincial capitol in La Trinidad, they became instant celebrities.

Lanky 10-year-old Jerry Diño Jr., one of the challenge’s youngest participants, is a fifth grader at Don Bosco Baguio and is the youngest among seven children of the late Jerry Diño Sr., who donned the national colors during the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics as a member of the Philippine judo team. The older Diño, who made his national team debut during the 1985 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, succumbed to a fatal heart attack 10 years ago.

Diño Jr., according to his uncle who serves as the lad’s guardian, is an achiever just like his father. In school, he is a chess champion and is also a good singer, winning several singing contests. Academically, Diño Jr. finished fifth grade as a second honor student and is determined to do even better this year.

“He got his traits from his father,” said the uncle, who refused to be identified. “He commits to finish whatever he is doing. For him, it’s ‘no retreat, no surrender,’ as the popular saying goes.”

And the commitment and the “no retreat, no surrender” tag of young Diño Jr. became even more evident during the lung-busting, back-breaking Cordillera Challenge spearheaded by Globe Telecom, where Diño Jr. was among the early finishers. Moreover, he completed the whole 40-kilometer distance, besting even the more experienced and older bikers.

As soon as he crossed the finish line, he was immediately mobbed by the other bikers and of course, the media who covered the event. They all became instant fans and admirers of this young tyke, who was suddenly thrust into the limelight because of his latest achievement. Though the Globe Cordillera Challenge was not really a competition-style bike race, suddenly, the people present wondered, “what if he had proper training? He could have beaten us all!”

For retired superintendent Brigilio Balaba, who was formerly regional director of the Philippine National Police’s Internal Affairs Service in the Cordillera region, his participation in the Globe Cordillera Challenge showed that there is absolutely no age limit when it comes to biking, a sport he took up in 2001 after his retirement.

Balaba is recognized as the Globe Cordillera Challenge’s oldest participant at 65 yet he finished the whole 40-kilometer distance. And why couldn’t he? It seems he just participated for the love of biking and the environment, and perhaps to prepare for an even tougher event-like triathlon, for example.

Former police colonel Brigilio Balaba, 65, the oldest participant in the challenge.

For two consecutive years, the physically fit sexagenarian competed in the inaugural staging of the tough and grueling Ironman 70.3 Philippines. In 2009, Balaba competed in the hugely popular sporting event’s 60- to 64-year-old category, where he finished third place. The following year, Balaba came back to compete in the 65- to 69-year-old side, where he was declared champion after completing a 21-km run, a 1.9-km swim and a 90-km bike ride.

There were other unique participants during the Globe Cordillera Challenge, like a biker who had an artificial leg, a soldier who just wanted to keep fit by biking (he was also part of last year’s group), families, even a member of the broadcast media who went with his barkada because he really wanted to race and not be part of the coverage, and a biker who had an “Ibis” bicycle frame, a popular brand of mountain bike frame that can cost as much as your average car.

But then again, despite the varied type of characters who participated in the Globe Cordillera Challenge, one thing is for sure: they were all glad to have been a part of the country’s biggest race for a worthy cause, which is to save the environment, specifically the mountain areas of the Cordillera region, long considered one of the country’s important water catch basins.

For them, it doesn’t matter whether they came in first or last. The most important thing is that these bikers were able to do their share in contributing their time, talent and treasure to reach the objective of raising enough funds to buy 30,000 seedlings to replenish the dwindling number of trees in the Cordillera mountains.

And they were not alone in the effort. Globe Telecom’s corporate social responsibility arm, Globe Bridging Communities (Globe BridgeCom), members of the Globe Adventure Club, the Cordillera Conservation Trust, members of the Philippine Mountain Biking Forum, the Pinoy Mountain Biker Community, Team Holcim, and partners like Dong-A Pharma (distributor of Bacchus energy drink), Cordillera Coffee, Manila Water, Manila Bulletin, The Philippine STAR, and Philippine Daily Inquirer, were there to provide support in order for the Globe Cordillera Challenge to meet its objectives.

Yet, this is just the start. A lot more work — and Cordillera Challenges — need to be done.