BAGUIO CITY (10 Dec) – Team Lakay’s Harold Banario is set to complete his Team Lakay mural at the Baguio athletic bowl tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 11.
“I will work five day straight to finish all the details,” Banario said Monday, December 7, of the 13 by 24 feet mural that feature eight of his c0-Team Lakay members including top man Mark Sangiao and his older brother Honorio, the inaugural ONE Fighting Championship featherweight king.
Banario visited his work last November 22 and has stopped working when Baguio mayor Benjamin Magalong declared more control for residents of La Trinidad and three other neighboring Benguet towns. The Banarios reside in Wangal, La Trinidad.
“Araw-arawin ko na para matapos (I’ll be working daily to finish it),” added Banario, who sees action in the Brave FC and whose two fights slated this year has been cancelled due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Banario started working on the mural late October after it was launched on October 2 before Sangiao, Eduard Folayang, Geje Eustaquio, Kevin Belingon and Lito Adiwang left for Singapore for the ONE Inside the Matrix series. All but Adiwang are featured in the Team Lakay mural along with reigning ONE straw weight king Joshua Pacio, Brave FC’s bantamweight champion Stephen Loman and former PXC Championship bantamweight titlist Crisanto Pitpitunge.
Banario worked for at least five days on the mural work, where Sangiao and most of those featured were seen having a photo op late November.
Despite being incomplete, his co-Team Lakay players were impressed on the work which is very much detailed. “I’ll further work on the details, even the belts they hold,” said Banario.
On Monday, Banario finally met his counterpart Gladys Labsan, who is doing the Heroes Legends mural at the nearby long stage dugouts. Two legendary Baguio athletes have already been finished by Labsan – Hector Begeo and the late Jerry Dino. Begeo is a three time Olympics participant in steeplechase (1984, 1988 and 1992), while Dino saw action in judo in the 1988 and 1992 editions of the quadrennial sporting event.
Begeo and Dino are two of the five Olympians from the city, the others are Folayang, Benjie Rivera and Mariane Mariano in wushu sanda in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The sixth is boxer Irish Magno, who has already earned a ticket to the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
Labsan started the mural of former Southeast Asian Games javelin queen Erlinda Lavandia also Monday. She is also expected to finish the 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1985 SEAG gold winner, who has now expanded her events to all the throwing competitions – discuss throw, shotput and hammer throw – where she won all four events in last year’s Asian Masters Events in Singapore.
Labsan is expected to start next week the mural of boxing legend Ray Tam, who lost in his bid for the super featherweight crown held by Alexis Arguelles in 1978.
“For now, I will do four murals and do the rest next year. That is if funds are available,” said Labsan, who is scheduled to do the faces of wushu sanda great Divine Wally, two time world taekwondo poomsae king Jeordan Dominguez and former three time world muaythai king Brent Velasco.
