The City of Bago was the overall champion of the Governor Bong Lacson Inter-LGU Arnis Provincial Championship on December 3 at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central.
Seven teams from various LGUs participated in the inaugural arnis tournament in Negros Occidental. Bago City nabbed the title as the team with 21 gold, 9 silver, and 11 bronze medals.
Bacolod City was the first runner-up with 11 gold, 11 silver, and 12 bronze medals. La Carlota City followed as the second runner-up with 4 gold, 9 silver, and 9 bronze medals. Earning the third runner-up ranking was Negros Occidental High School, Talisay City landed as the fourth runner-up, La Castellana got the fifth runner-up title, and Kabankalan City was the sixth runner-up.
A total of 200 participants from Bacolod City, Bago City, Kabankalan City, La Carlota City, La Castellana, Talisay City, and the Negros Occidental High School joined the competition. The divisions included Kids 10 years old and below (Boys and Girls), Kids 11-12 years old (Boys and Girls), Juniors 13-17 years old (Boys and Girls), and Seniors 18 years old and above (Men and Women). And the events were Likha Anyo, Padded Stick Labanan, and Team Sparring in Livestick.
For the Anyo competitions, the categories were Individual Single Weapon (Boys, Girls, Men, and Women), Individual Espada Y Daga (Boys, Girls, Men, and Women), and Team Open Weapon (Boys, Girls, and Men). For the Padded Stick Competition, there were three main categories – Kids (10 years old and below boys and girls, and 11-12 years old boys and girls), Juniors (Featherweight, extra lightweight, half lightweight, pin weight, and bantamweight – boys and girls), and the Seniors (60 kgs. and below Men, over 60 kgs. Men, 52 kgs. and below Women, and over 52 kgs. Women).
The competition started with an opening ceremony at 10 AM where Provincial Sports Office head Anthony Carlo Agustin took the lead by delivering a short message and officially declaring the tournament open on behalf of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.
World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) World Championship Gold Medalist Franz AJ Lirazan and International Technical Official Don Jose Campoy led the Oath of Sportsmanship and the Oath of Technical Officials, respectively.*
