MANILA, Philippines – Aspiring Filipino skaters will have another avenue to hone their craft for future local and international tournaments with the upcoming reopening of Vitas Skate Park in Tondo, Manila.
Manila mayor Isko Moreno showed a sneak peek of the refurbished park over the weekend, providing the Filipino youth a new and free skating home once the pandemic is over.
The 1,800-square-meter park, which was first built in 2016, underwent renovation this year with hopes of attracting more youth into the sport for their dream to become the country’s future world champions like Margielyn Didal.
“Inayos natin ang mga pasilidad upang magamit ng mg Batang Maynila at nawa’y makatulong sa paghubog ng mga susunod na skateboarding champions ng Maynila at ng ating bansa,” Moreno said.
One of the largest public parks in the country, Vitas Skate Park is the second of its kind in the city after the construction of Manila Skate Plaza in Paco in 2015.
Last December, a world-class skate park was also inaugurated in Tagaytay City for the staging of the 30th SEA Games, which Didal and the rest of the Philippine skateboarding team dominated.
This emergence of several skate parks in the country has long been the dream of the Cebuana skateboarding star, who is also an Asian Games gold medalist and a cinch to the Tokyo Olympics pending the remaining qualifiers after the pandemic.