‘Banat Balbalan’ in Action: Mayor Malannag credits town’s athletes for Provincial Meet medal haul

Balbalan, Kalinga – After landing third place in the recently-concluded Kalinga Provincial Athletic Meet, Mayor Almar Malannag acknowledged the determination and grit displayed by the iBalabalan youngsters to fight for podium finishes and to represent their municipality.

Balbalan collected an overall 58 gold medals, making them the third place in the province-wide sports festival. The municipality is 3 gold medals short from the 2nd place, Rizal, but they hauled the second largest number of medals with a total of 198.

The Municipality likewise was recognized as the cleanest delegation during their stay in Pinukpuk.

With all these accomplishments, Mayor Malannag who had been with the athletes on the ground since the first day of the competition – cheering them as they fight for the much-coveted medals – could not get any prouder of their delegation.

In an interview, he mentioned that their standing in this year’s provincial meet reflects the enthusiasm, hard work, and the dedication of the Balbalan youth to embody the town’s tagline, “Banat Balbalan” and to bring honor to their town through their skills. He acknowledged that the student-athletes did not have enough time to practice due to the incessant rain in Balbalan since their District Meet.

“Dagiay athletes nga taga Balbalan – dagiay winners, dagiay awan naala na, ami-amin nga naki-participate inpakita da nga kayan iti taga Balbalan nga sumabay ken maki-compete iti higher sports meet kasla daytoy provincial meet. Nakitak isuda nga adda determinasyon da, uray kurang usar da, adda talaga iti puso da nga mangilaban iti Balbalan sunga Banat Balbalan iti nagan da,” he said.

As for the athletes who did not make in the top 3 in their respective fields, Malannag urged them not to stop and to keep honing their skills as there is still next year and there are other avenues for them to have the chance to get in the podium.

“Haan kayo agmaymaysa, a-annak. Adda lang ditoy iti local chief executive yu ken iti entero nga LGU iti Balbalan nga kanayon ken sisasagana nga mang-suporta kadakayo. Suportaran mi dagiti aktibidades para iti youth ta mamati kami nga dakkel iti impact na dagitoy tapnu mailisi dagiti kabataan iti bisyo kas kuma droga nga mangperdi iti future da,” he stressed.