LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – With the province under modified enhanced community quarantine until June 15, it would make training and even competing for the members of the Benguet dancesport team extra difficult as they vie in another online dancesport competition this weekend, the Jamili’s Scholarship Cup.

“Struggle,” is how coach Charibelle Pingawan describe the ordeal they have to go through at this time of their preparation for the upcoming competition as they train in Baguio on a limited time because they cannot afford to stay longer.

“We will continue to train in Baguio because there are no venues here. The only problem is that it is very expensive so we have limited our trainings the past two weeks to only once a week,” she told RNG Luzon Tuesday.

The team trains at the Body Base Studio at the Laperal Building here.

“I was hoping that we could compensate this June before the competition,” she added in the vernacular.

Last week, Pingawan said that: “Hopefully we are already under (general community quarantine) GCQ come June 1.”

That after this town was declared under localized MECQ.

Pingawan said that training had been difficult under MECQ which the whole province was declared the previous week. But then it was downgraded to GCQ until the town government declared a localized MECQ to contain spread of the virus that had placed their training on hold anew.

The local government actually declared the town under MECQ last May 23 and was supposed to end May 31. But then this time, it was the provincial government which sought that it be placed under two more weeks of MECQ.

Pingawan are seeing action in the June 12 and 13 Jamili’s competition and the Korea Open on June 27.

Since the competition date for the Jamili’s falls within the MECQ, she hopes to secure a special permit from the municipal government for them to be allowed to compete at the Quads Fitness Gym.

“I will be going to the mayor’s office tomorrow and I will be giving our letter request for us to be allowed at the competition venue on June 12 and 13 subject maybe to some conditions,” she explained in the vernacular.

‘I do not know yet if we be allowed but then I was told to make the letter request,” she added.

Last month, the Benguet dancesport team took home a gold, a silver and four bronze medals in the Manila Open Online Dancesport Competition 2021 at the Quads Fitness Gym here.

Partners Mico Dumalos and Mark Benter provided the lone gold for the team after silver medal finishes in their first two online competitions this year.