GENERAL SANTOS City - A peasant's son who preferred the brighter lights of the city to the lambent light of the farm, sparkled like a gem for the young province of Sultan Kudarat by winning his province's first gold on the first day of the Palaro ng Bayan here yesterday.
Elmer Sabal, younger brother of Palaro ng Bansa former record holder Criscenciano, ruled the 10,000-meter run in 37:07.21, over 13 seconds in front of second placer Jujiet de Asis of the same province.
"Idolo ko ang kuya ko sa athletics, at gusto ko rin pong manalo't makilala para makakuha ng scholarship at makapag-aral sa siyudad," said Sabal, who was barely a year old when Sultan Kudarat, formerly a part of Cotabato, became a province in 1973.
The fourth year high school student at the Busok National High School thus became the first gold medalist of the Palaro ng Bayan, winning the first of five gold medals being disputed on the provincial/town level championships at the A. C. Acharon Sports and Development Center near the city limits here.
John Rene delos Reyes of Iloilo ruled the high jump with a 6.5 m leap on his third attempt, beating R.V. Alvarez (6.22) by 28 cm. while Lorelei Amihit of Negros Occidental won the shotput with a 10.02m heave.
The results of the city championships in athletics held at Koronadal were not available yesterday.
Sultan Kudarat also gained headway in baseball, edging out Bukidnon, 9-8. In the other provincial championship game, Basilan blanked Mt. Province, 11-0. In the city championships, powerhouse Zamboanga City routed Makati, 6-2.
The volleyball winners were Isabela over Pangasinan (25-18, 3-25, 25-19), Tuguegarao over Maguindanao (25-12, 25-8), Davao del Norte over Pampanga (25-15, 25-15), Marbel, Cotabato over Cebu (25-15, 25-17), Misamis Oriental over Kalinga, Apayao (25-19, 25-14), and Malabon over Bohol (25-5, 25-20).
On request of the three other provincial hosts, the organizing Philippine Sports Commission and Department of the Interior and Local Governments held simultaneous opening ceremonies to kick off action in Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and Koronadal, South Cotabato yesterday, a day after the elaborate opening rites here where President Joseph Estrada was the guest speaker.
Commissioner Richie Garcia attended the rites in Koronadal while commissioner Leonardo Celles was the main speaker in Sultan Kudarat. Commissioner Tisha Abundo led ceremonies at Sarangani province.
Meanwhile, PSC chairman Carlos "Butch" Tuazon clarified that President Estrada would be giving incentives only to the top player in each of the 11 individual events and seven team events and not to every gold medal winner as this would entail incentives of over P80-M, which would be higher than what the medal winners receive in the Southeast Asian Games.
Late in the day, an 18-year-old long jumper from South Cotabato stunned the opposition and sent eyebrows rising when he exceeded the Palarong Pambansa tertiary record of 7.08 m with a record of 7.11 m for the 16-18 age group.
Henry Dagmil made the remarkable feat in the provincial/municipal championship level where he surpassed the record of Eastern Visayas champion Jonet Cantero in the 1997 Palarong Pambansa in Naga City.
His rivals, however, had their reservations on the true age of the boy, although organizers here said they had seen Dagmil in a number of long jump events in the past and were impressed with his progress.
No protests were filed.
Meanwhile, controversies continue to haunt the country's Little League Baseball after two players from Davao City team had been disqualified due to age eligibility.
Davao pitcher Frolian Napoli and catcher Jonathan Timaan earned early bus tickets home after they were found by the PnB screening committee too old to participate in the 12 and below Little League baseball event.
Davao coach Gilbert Alcala had denied the screening committee's findings and immediately appealed the decision.