Tuesday 17 June 2014

Parang beach comes alive!




Celebration … A kiosk was put up at the beach of Parang in preparation for the village’s feast of San Atonio de Padua, last Friday, June 13. The local baranggay said the kiosk also aimed to celebrate the success in rehabilitating the beach from a rubbish dumping ground to a wholesome stretch of beach sand (see picture below), which involved the local government of Mambulao and members of the community. The beach debuted its new, wholesome look on Easter Sunday 2014.  – Photos courtesy of WILLIE RELAO/Facebook









FEATURE: Mambulao dragon boat rowers make the grade, impress Mercedes crowd

The Mambulao dragon boat team in action.  



 The dragon head and the drum beater ... keeping the rythm perfect to the beat.


 The RCP rowing team,

Our boys, posing for posterity after the contest.

 The paddles used by the Mambulao team

Artem Andaya (center) listening to last-minute instructions from the rowing team head.

The banner announcing the two-day contest.

 The boys prepping up for the coming race.

 Relaxing.

 The crowd.

 More crowd.

 Young fans.

 The dragon head that spearheads the Mambulao team

The boys as they rowed back to the shore.
Members of the RCP women's team. - All pictures courtesy of WENIFREDO MACABUHAY REYES WEST




By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ


IT WAS a hastily assembled group of rowers, all inexperienced in competitions such as last week’s Mercedes National Dragonboat Race, except for the fact that the members got the basic skill -- that of making a boat move forward or backward with ease.

But the yellow-shirted Mambulao Dragonboat Team, a ragtag band of 12 experienced boatmen who were put together in a matter of few days to meet the filing deadline for entry applications with the dragon boat race competition committee, impressed a large crowd during Friday and Saturday’s semi-final races as it boated towards an impressive third-slot finish.

Mambulao’s boating team was powered by ten sagwaneros (rowers), spurred by an untiring drumbeater, who kept the rhythm of the rowers perfect down to the beat and a sturdy rudder man, who steered the vessel through the surging waves.

It was awesome to see the guys whipped their 15-foot dragon head-fronted boat ashore, past its more experienced riders as soon as their boat made the return arc for home.

One thing is certain though -- a few more of these gigs around Bicol region and we would see our boys waving hands under the spotlight of newfound fame.

Comments Wenifredo Macabuhay Reyes West, a photography enthusiast and the one who documented the Mambulao team’s stint for the Mambulao local government:

“’Yon nga po ang nakakatawa sa team … kasi, bagito po talaga sila at makikita mo sa teamwork nila at sa kanilang skill … pero naroroon na kaagad ang passion nila para maging mahusay …” (That’s one thing with the team … they were all neophytes as shown by how they synchronized their rhythm but the immediate passion for them to get better was there.)

Artem Andaya, a member of the Sandigang Bayan who is also the tourism chairman, assembled the 12-man gang from Mambulao youths who have loved for boats and sea.

It was part of the LGU’s quest to gain more experience in expanding the Mambulao’s tourism potential, and this included the holding of future dragon boat races right at  Mambulao Bay in future.

And Andaya will be around to prepare the boys by going into a rigid training regime while mastering the technical aspects of the sport, building a race-grade boat and designing appropriate competition uniforms, says Cynthia P Canoy of the LGU’s public affairs unit.

Canoy told MWBuzz the local team is getting 100% support from the Big Boss himself, Mayor Dong Padilla and his government and the Municipal Development Council (MDC), which is closely working with Andaya to develop this sport among local boaters.

What’s surprising is that only Mambulao fielded a team through an invitation from the local government of Mercedes.

And our boys immediately scrambled away with the best in the national dragon boat competitions.

Sponsored and organized by GM Pacific Coast, the Mercedes rowing – which has the national level category -- was the first of its kind held in the province. 

GM Pacific Coast said the contest aimed to showcase the strength, talent and gracefulness of the different rowing teams of the Philippines.

It further said: One of the objectives of this momentous event is to enhance our youth and introduce this sport here in CamNorte, to build new breed of champions tagged as “Kabataan ay Turuan Palawakin ang Kalinangan, Kapaligiran ay Ingatan para sa Magandang Kinabukasan”.

GM Pacific Coast partnered the LGU of Mercedes and the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation, Inc (PDBF).

And no doubt, it certainly showcased to the local and cross-province visitors the municipality’s pristine bay and beach.

It could be the dance of the waves as they languidly rolled across the bay towards the shore that awed the visitors, or may be, it was the crystal waters – home to rich schools of fish -- that made them love Mercedes’ Cayucyucan Beach more.

One day, Mambulao Bay will rise to this level of consciousness among the locals, but if ever it does, only time could tell.

Nevertheless, this kind of competition should become a means for the Mambulao LGU to draw visitors into the beach of Parang, which of late has made a big turn-around to show that all is well along this stretch of sand, making its carpet ever friendly to the bare soles of morning strollers.

Except for the Mambulao Dragon Boat Team, the rest of the competing teams were of the national level category, namely:  Lake Buhi, Lake Buhi Camsur; Bicol River Hot Paddlers; Onslought  (Manila mix); Blue Phoenix (Manila mix); RCP Dragon (Manila mix); and  Dragon Republic (Manila mix).
 
Anyway, the boat race was dominated on the final day by the seasoned rowers from Lake Buhi, CamSur, who snatched the first place (open small boat 200m final - time: 56.71); RCP Warriors (women cumulative final - time: 2.13.59); and Blue Phoenix (mixed small boat 200m final division - time: 1.02.03). 
 
Mercedes LGU was correct when it predicted that the people, who would come to see the races, will cheer for the best rowers.

But surely, they would fall in love with the beach and bay as well.

How I wish that one day, our Mambulao Bay and the beach in Parang, would also get there.

And our dragon boat boys would roar like the mythical dragon -- in great triumph and in honor of Mambulao.

Here are the results in three divisions:





See the video of the races:

http://vimeo.com/98329161#t=133




For comment, email: ahernandez@thenational.com












2013 impressive year for JPPHSC




By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ


THE performance of the Jose Panganiban Primary Hospital Service Cooperative (JPPHSC) for the year 2013 was impressive, with net surplus jumping to more than 349%.

This was declared by Maricel C Isagani, cooperative hospital administrator, based on the 2013 financial performance of the health facility.

Last year, JPPHSC posted a hefty net surplus of 349.11%, or P4.4 million, as against P1 million posted in 2012.

Net assets surged 49% to P17.13 million, from the previous year’s only P11.49 million.

The value of share capital in 2013 jumped 54%, to P7.28 million last year, from the previous year’s only P4.7 million.

Over the previous five years from 2009, the value of assets at the end of 2013 rocketed 235.97% to P17.13 million, from a measly P5 million five years ago.

The financial report also revealed that last year, the co-op generated  a revenue of P134.7 million, but spent P8.9 million, or 66.65% during the year to support its operations.

During the year in review, the co-op had P10.2 million in a number of bank accounts, up 74.71% from P5.84 posted in 2012.

The funds were deposited in the Rural Bank of Paracale P289,478; Land Bank (checking account) – P6.5 million; Rural Bank of Jose Panganiban (savings account) – P1.4 million; LPMPC-JP Branch (time deposit) –P504,000; Land Bank- Daet (TD) – P500,000; Land Bank- Labo (TD)- P500,000; and PNB Daet (TD) – P500,000.

At the end of last year, the co-op had total receivables of P1.29 million from PhilHealth.

 Also during the year, the cooperative passed a resolution approving the release of dividends to members as of April 15, 2013.    
  
Such dividends were expected to be drawn from an account called “Amount available for interest on share capital” amounting to P3.14 million, or 70% of the allocated surplus of P4.49 million.

At the end of last year, the co-op hospital had 40 regular employees and three contractual staff that included a visiting physician, a pharmacist and an X-ray technologist.
Also, it had 627 co-owners.

The hospital is patronized by the residents of Mambulao and those from the neighboring towns of Paracale and Labo.

Polilio Island residents in Quezon use the hospital as this is nearer than the health facilities in their province.