The President is coming to Bacolod

According to Bacolod Rep. Manolo Puentevella, President Arroyo is coming to visit the athletes, foreign delegations and the playing venues of the Southeast Asian Games.

But that is post-climatic as the President had already presided the impressive opening of the games at the Rizal Park Luneta and also attended the opening rites in Cebu City.

In a way, the Cebu opening rites and its P4-million budget had stirred a minor controversy, with Ricardo Cardinal Vidal saying that the amount could have been better spent feeding some hungry people in Central Visayas’ premier city.

But a presidential visit is something every province looks forward to, no matter that the mention of her name by Rep. Puentevella at the SEA Games opening rites here in Bacolod had elicited boos. It wasn’t a major protest though.

GMA will find out that despite the initial snafus and some minor flaws, people have flocked to the SEA Games venues. According to Eric Loretizo, Bacolod SEA Games Organizing Committee (Basoc) secretary general, foreign boxing contingents were surprised to learn that Bago City had produced most of Negros Occidental’s top pugilists. This was bared during dinner hosted by Bago City Mayor Janet Torres.

Thousands also jostled for a chance to see Sunday’s volleyball jousts at the West Negros College Gymnasium. But while those who watched the games applauded the Philippine Women’s indoor team for walloping Singapore 25-9, 25-16, and 25-10, they groaned over the men’s team’s loss to Myanmar. The local squad was beaten 25-16, 25-18, 29-27.

Hundreds of fans, however, milled outside the overcrowded WNC gym unable to buy tickets.

Part of the snafu over tickets was because Basoc had put up five ticket dispensing centers at the Basoc area at the Paglaum Sports Center but was announced only yesterday morning.

Sunday’s top drawer, however, remained football. This was when the Thailand Eleven squeaked a 2-1 win over Malaysia, earning for the Thais entry to the semi-finals.

The Thailand-Malaysia match was disrupted for 18 minutes by power interruption, which plunged the Panaad Park and Stadium into darkness. Central Negros Electric Cooperative Ed Guilem claimed that transient faults caused the Alijis Feeder, the Panaad’s power source, to trip off.

Immediately after the games, Asian Football Confederation officials asked the Panaad administration headed by Ian de Ramos for an explanation.

De Ramos said that although Ceneco had restored power in just about 10 seconds, the stadium lights had to be cooled off before they can provide full illumination.

Again, it seems that Negrenses have become enthusiastic football fans. But it was Iloilo that dominated football in Region 6.

Thus, to a certain extent, GMA will discover the start of a football resurgence among Negrenses. Thousands packed the Panaad since the start of the football series of SEA Games.

Yesterday, the boxing tournament got going at the University of St. La Salle gymnasium in Bacolod City.

Philippine Amateur Boxing Association president Manny Lopez expressed confidence that the Filipino pugilists are capable of duplicating their 1991 SEA Games Manila performance when they won eight gold medals.

But fears of biased officiating circulated around. Lopez, however, emphasized that there is no such thing. He assured that the SEA Games boxing committee had selected the best-trained officials.

There was also the announcement by Basoc on Saturday that VIP cards issued are being recalled because fake cards have started circulating in the province. The cards were issued last week for the opening rites and the football games.

The circulation of fake VIP cards, explained Loretizo, jampacked restricted areas. Modern technology made it possible for some unscrupulous individuals to duplicate the VIP cards. Basoc, he said, has implanted the new cards with security prints.

That was true. I noticed myself that there were many Bacolod folks who entered the VIP section of the Panaad with their maids and children. There were also flaws in screening ticket holders. Some were allowed in by merely citing that they forgot to bring their VIP cards.

Another noticeable flaw. Although Police Superintendent Pedro Merced asked the Regional Mobile Police Group (RMG) not to wear camouflage uniforms, they were spotted lining in front of the Panaad Park still wearing the uniform. So did the other reinforcements, including those deployed to the VIP section.

But these are minor mistakes that didn’t drown out the public’s enthusiasm for the games, which is good news for Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Rep. Puentevella, the co-chairman of Basoc.

Fertilizer controversy

Despite his preoccupation with the Southeast Asian Games, Rep. Puentevella Saturday said he knows Jose Barredo, who had earlier claimed that he had asked for a 75 percent commission from the fertilizer fund allotted to the city’s lone congressional district.

Puentevella called Barredo’s statements against him as "malicious fabricated and outright lies." He hinted the possibility of filing charges in court against the alleged bagman in the P3-billion fertilizer scam.

The fuming Puentevella said he is arranging for a confrontation with Barredo, who is purportedly from Panay.

Puentevella said that the opposition must have targeted him because he is close to the GMA administration.

Our records show that the project was implemented only after the May 2004 elections, he stressed.

Two other Negros politicians, Barredo claimed, did not push through with their fertilizer allotment because they had shifted support to Fernando Poe Jr.

Well, as they say, even with the stampede to the SEA Games there is no stopping the political brickbats.