38-yr.-old fighter from Tanudan, Kalinga win gold in international Taekwondo fight

Tabuk City, Kalinga – After nearly two decades of not joining combat competition, a 38-year-old dad from Tanudan came back to the sports he fell in love with in high school and won big in an international Taekwondo match in Baguio City recently.

Enrile Amangao from Mangali, Tanudan won gold in the Kombat Taekwondo Philippine Open on April 4 at the Baguio Convention and Cultural Center. The event gathered 18 elite Taekwondo players in Asia and is the first professional Taekwondo tournament in the continent.

Amangao fought under the Tabuk City Taekwondo Dynasty and was chosen to represent the city through Maryjane Alcedo and John Berchman Lardizabal, who are also Taekwondo instructors.

According to Amangao, he first started playing Taekwondo in 2004, when he was still in high school. However, due to financial constraints, he diverted to other combative sports like kickboxing, Wuhu, and Muay Thai, where he won local and national awards.

While he found his way to remain active in sports amid financial difficulties in his younger years, he had to put his passion behind to focus on his family.

Eighteen years after he last attended a Taekwondo match, Enrile rekindled his love for the sport by becoming one of the instructors of said combative event in Tabuk City and becoming a player for ‘Kombat Taekwondo’, the world’s first and largest professional Taekwondo organization, in 2024.

As to his preparation for the Kombat Taekwondo Philippine Open held recently, Amangao admitted he did not have enough preparation for the event due to a conflict in schedule.

"Awan usto nga preparation ko for this recent fight ta nagkataon nga nagsabay iti kickboxing championship here in Tabuk city. Ti lang talaga in maintain ko ket diay jogging para iti endurance ko,” he said.

Nevertheless, Amangao won the gold.