MANILA, 26 April — International Master Chito Garma salvaged a draw with fellow IM Petronio Roca in 15 moves of a French Defense to emerge as the top finisher in the National Open chess championship semifinals at the Greenhills Shopping Center.
The draw gave Garma nine points out a possible 11. Joining Garma in the championship round were Grandmasters Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio and Bong Villamayor are seeded were Roca, IM Barlo Nadera, Elmer Sumngat, Melvin Merelos, IM Nelson Mariano II, National Master Alex Milagrosa, IM Ronald Bancod, NM Yves Ranola and Joseph Sanchez who all finished with eight points.
Jerome Balico and Ronald Llvanes also finished with eight points but lost in the tie break.
The Kalookan City-based Milagrosa, coming off two straight losses, outplayed Allan Sayson in 43 moves of a Reti Opening. Nadera and Ranola split the point after 16 moves of a King’s Indian Defense. Mariano and Llavanes drew in 15 moves of a Ruy Lopez while Bancod and Balico also agreed to a cease-fire in 15 moves of a Pirc.
Palawan sensation Ruselo Joya led the way in the women’s division with nine points, followed by Christine Espallardo (8.5), Joy Lomiba (8.0) and Pearl dela Cruz, Mary Grace Castro, Daisy Rivera, Sherily Cua and Jonalyn Torres (7.5).
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Go Teng Kok calls for changes in POC by-laws
Athletics chief Go Teng Kok said he will bat for major changes in the Philippine Olympic Committee Constitution and by-laws next month during the POC general assembly to keep Philippine sports attuned with the times.
Go added the proposed changes can also help Philippine sports arrest its alarming skid, particularly in the international scene.
The athletics chief said he will present his proposal to POC President Celso Dayrit during the next general assembly on May 29.
He will ask his fellow national sports association officials to support his move through a signature campaign to be launched next week.
Under his proposal, Go wants to limit the term of POC officials, from president down to the auditor, to just four years “to prevent them from overstaying.” Go also said that POC officials whose terms of office have ended should be disqualified from running for the same post. If they want to continue serving the POC, they should run for higher posts.
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Caltex Team off to good start
The impressive debuts of multi-titled Jody Coseteng and Oscar Aguilar in the kickoff leg of the SVI Subic Grand Prix created a big impact for the comeback of Caltex-Havoline Racing Team in the local motorsports scene.
The victories proved the initial success of the high performance cars prepared by Autoplus and fueled with Vortex Gold, and Caltex Havoline’s partnership with Globe Telecom and Allied Domeque.
But that’s just the start of the struggles and bigger challenges ahead as Caltex Havoline expects a tougher fight in the second leg set April 27-28.
“We’re very elated with the rousing debut for the Caltex-Havoline team. The wins proved the superiority of their Havoline Fully Synthetic Motor Oil in the circuit through our ace drivers and the high performance cars,” said Paul Familara, Caltex Philippines Product Category manager for Lubricants Sales and Marketing.
“But we also know the coming legs will be a lot tougher, and for sure, Coseteng will be the target of other drivers. We have to keep up with the challenge, and we will prepare harder for the second leg,” he added.
The multi-titled Coseteng, carrying the colors of Caltex-Globe Telecom, did the unthinkable as he defied the odds of climbing up from 12th place twice into sweeping both races of the 2002 Blaze Super Saloon Series.
Aguilar, racing for Caltex-Havoline Beefeater, finished third and second in the Class C category of the SVI Challenge Cup while another Caltex driver, Patrick Mendiola, topped both races in the Novice division.
The newly-upgraded track notwithstanding, Coseteng showed his championship experience over his rivals. After a long hiatus staying in San Francisco for 10 years, the itch to race brought him back to the Philippines in 1995 and he became one of the big names in the local motorsports scene.
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Cebu wants Batang Pinoy
Cebu City Sports Commission Chairman Jonathan Guardo expressed confidence that Cebu’s existing facilities can successfully accommodate Batang Pinoy, a national multi-event competition for athletes 12 years old and under. Guardo recently submitted to the office of Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Eric Buhain Cebu City’s bid to host the event slated for December this year.
“By hosting big competitions, our people are constantly exposed to sports so that they may continue using our facilities and prevent them from becoming white elephants,’’ said Guardo who enjoys the backing of councilor Jack Jakosalem, chairman of the city council’s committee on youth and sports.
The hosting of Batang Pinoy was actually offered to Cebu last year, but Guardo decided to give way to Bacolod due to other pressing commitments.
“We would have been willing to accept the hosting then but unfortunately we were already committed to other projects at that time. Now we are more prepared and I hope Cebu and the PSC could work it out early to minimize, if not totally avoid, problems that may occur.’’
Cebu City, which sent the biggest delegation, finished sixth overall in the 2001 Batang Pinoy. Guardo is set to launch project “Team Cebu City,’’ a pool of athletes that will be tasked to carry the city’s honors in regional, national and international competitions. It has prioritized on events where the Cebuanos are known to excel like boxing, athletics, dancesport, gymnastics and taekwondo.
“Our chances will definitely be boosted if we get the hosting but our primary concern really is to promote physical fitness among our people and show our visitors the cultural aspect of Cebuano hospitality.’’
Guardo said the Batang Pinoy hosting will also play a major factor in considering Cebu as one of the regional hubs for the Philippines’ hosting of the Southeast Asian Games in 2005.
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Things start looking good for Buhain
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Eric Buhain can proudly report a successful and productive first 100 days in office.
Buhain, who took over the position vacated by Carlos Tuason last Jan. 24, has done more than any of his predecessors in their more than three months in office.
“I found out that being a chairman is not an easy job but one can do more in such a short time simply by tackling all the problems at hand. The PSC as a government agency should be working hard with the national athletes and coaches as its main concern,’’ he said.
