Ready for the event

I went around Lapu-Lapu City yesterday to check the preparations for the Davis Cup tie between the Philippines and Japan, which starts tomorrow.

While many would focus on the venue of the competition, which is the new clay court of Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, I opted to check the roads leading to the venue as I am sure that the court would be perfect for the competition.

While my trips to Lapu-Lapu City in the past were limited to going to the airport or going to the Mactan Island Golf Club, recently I had seen other parts of the city including the roads leading to Plantation Bay.

From what I saw yesterday, I believe there has been a major improvement and I hope that the Lapu-Lapu City Government would also ensure a smooth flow of traffic not only during the three days of the competition, but all year round.

There have also been some repairs done on some roads and I hope that such would continue whether there is a major international sporting event or not.

With one more day to go before the start of the competition, I think all is set for the five matches that would be played to determine which country advances to the next round.

While many think that the Philippines has the edge being the host, we should not discount the possibility of Japan beating us in our home turf. To help make our Filipino tennis players really feel like that they are playing in their home ground, let us go to the venue and show our support to them.

You won’t only get a chance to cheer for our fellow Filipinos, but you will also get to see a level of tennis action that we don’t get a chance to see in our place very often.

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Aside from the Davis Cup tie and the two-day clinic to be conducted by legendary Major League Baseball star Ken Griffey, Jr., another major sporting event is also taking place in Cebu this weekend – the Xterra Philippines Championship in the town of Liloan in northern Cebu.

This is three-sport event billed as the off-road version of the Ironman Triathlon held in Camarines Sur.

The Xterra will feature a 1.5-kilometer swim, 36-kilometer bike, and 10-kilometer run.

There is also a relay event that will have one athlete doing only a particular leg.

While I have missed many sporting events in the past, this one I really want to see as my cousin, Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco is also taking part in the relay event doing the run leg for team Abante Liloan.

I guess there are many others who plan to be there also on Sunday, so better get there very early to avoid having to walk very far as the road going to the area would be closed to vehicular traffic.

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I’d like to call on the readers to help pray for the safety of the Overseas Filipino Workers in Libya and other places around the world.

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MILESTONES: Belated birthday greetings to Daisy Bonachita, who turned a year older yesterday.

Happy birthday greetings go to my mistah Lt. Col. Badong Divinagracia, my good friend Wilson Yu, Charmaine Janis Rodriguez, Rene Sarmiento, Eric Du, and Celerino ‘Junjun’ Cabangca, Jr., who are celebrating today.

Advance greetings go to Donald Antonio, auntie Georgina Quiñones-Paragas, Bong Abela, Vicky Pastoriza, Cav Reuben Basiao, Norren Cañete Mercado, and Maita Florendo-Alcantara, who are celebrating tomorrow.

More power to all of you!