Milo Olympics kick off today

Swimmer Dianne Cañeda and top table tennis player Jean Phillippe Honoridez will lead more than a thousand athletes to welcome the 10th edition of the Milo Little Olympic this afternoon at the Cebu City Sports Center.

A multi-titled swimmer and a Milo Little Olympics Most Outstanding Athlete (MOA) awardee, Cañeda will light the urn of peace and unity while Honoridez, the youngest MOA recipient in the history of Milo, will lead the oath of sportsmanship.

Nestle Philippines, Inc., sports director Pat Goc-ong leads the guests along with DepEd-VII director Carolino Mordeno.

The two officials are also set to give separate opening remarks and then spearhead the raising of the Milo Little Olympics flag. It will be followed by the raising of the delegation banners.

DepEd-VII PESS chief Dr. Vivian Ginete, on the other hand, will lead the oath of officiating officials to ensure fairness in the games while Cebu City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera will be tasked to declare the games open.

The second part of opening program will be the selection of the Miss Milo Little Olympics 2005 and the cheer-dance competition.

There will be a total of 17 schools, which will be competing, including defending champions Abellana National School and City Central School.

Also, the 20-member national Pencak Silat team will have a demonstration to give the Cebuanos a first hand experience of what the sport is all about as the Southeast Asian Games competition for the event will be held here at the Cebu Coliseum.

Action proper will begin on Saturday in different venues.