Two down and another to go for this year.
Depsite winning in both the last two staging, though not the top prize, one of the more active fishers at the Burnham Lake, Jackson Abion just wants to have some good time and not think of winning.
“Enjoy lang ang fishing event, bonus na lang pag palaring manalo ulit (Enjoy the fishing event, it is just a bonus If I will be lucky to win again),” cried the part time entrepreneur who is into making and bottling hot chili products.
“Whatever winning category that is,” said Abion, who won second and third places, respectively in the last two staging of the new past time in the city.
Abion placed third in both the fishing tournaments held. The first was on June 12, during the Saleng Festival Sports Events organized by the City Environment and Parks Management Office in coordintation with the Media for Sports Development, and the last during the Baguio Day Fishing Competition organized by a group led by Rafael Serrano.
While he placed third, Abion did it in the most number of fishes caught in the first, and during the second, he came out a winner despite not catching a single fish in the finals. There were three batches wherein the winner of each batch advanced to the finals.
Regie Lim and Clemen Encarnacion took the second and third slots after ruling their respective group. Encarnacio emerged the champion, while Likm took first runner up honors.
The same format will be used during the third staging on December 11, confirmed Serrano, who took over holding the competition during the Baguio Day event.
Serrano is the first fishing enthusiast to come out in the open and was the first to ask city mayor Benjamin Magalong if fishing could be staged regularly at the Burnham Lake or at the Wright Park Reflection Pool.
Serrano, a retired engineer from New York, United States, procured a permit from the CEPMO and later suggested that the city should open fishing as a recreation of course with a fee. He was the first to be issued a permit and was the go to guy when the CEPMO organized the first fishing tourney last June.
At present, more than a dozen locals have been issued a permit and most of them compete in the fishing competition which Serrano plans to stage quarterly.
December 11 is the target date for the next competition where Serrano hopes would cement the foundation of staging fishing tournaments as well as the sport to be taken by city residents. In the first place, fishing has been identified by Magalong as a recreation to help erase the stigma of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Magalong has since named Serrano as consultant for recreational sport. Serrano is also overseeing now the transfer of fishes from Wright Park to Burnham.
If plans push through, the next staging will be during the Panagbenga by March which will jumpstart the regular quarterly fishing contests. After that, it will be either on May or on June and to be followed by the September 1 event.
“The mayor told me that prizes for the Panagbenga event will be charged against the festival funds, though the last one and the December event will be from my own initiative,” he said.
“I still have friends from the United States to support us like they did last September,” said .
The prizes and trophies during the Charter Day tournament were donated by Rolando Rongo, mayor Magalong, Susan Lasiter, Bernadette Yeban, Virgie Guico and CEPMO head lawyer Diwas. Pigeon Lobien
