Fernandez, who smashed three meet records on his first national tournament, scooped up another one at the conclusion of the swimming competition to lead an elite group of quadruple gold medallists at the Puerto Princesa Sports Complex here.
Reigning overall champion Manila, headed by Mayor Lito Atienza’s son Ali, unleashed a medal splurge on the final day of the pool event to level with Laguna with 29 swimming gold medals each.
The Big City bets, however, bagged the swimming crown after finishing with 27 silver medals, 15 more than what Laguna could muster in this meet backed by Pagcor, PCSO, Casino Filipino, Samsung, Air Philippines, WG&A, Speedo, Galinco, Peak Sports, Kix, Nestle, Barcelos Asturias Hotel through Wilson Tan, SC Johnson and STI.
The ramblings outside the competition venue also mellowed down when Manila withdrew all its protests in the spirit of sportsmanship but vowed to continue its pursuit against local government units out to ruin the event.
"It is in this light that I’m withdrawing all protests," said Atienza. "However, there are people who continue to field in over-aged athletes year after year.
"In this connection, I would like to request that we become more vigilant in removing these athletes as this is an age-group competition and it would be unfair to those who follow the rules to the letter," added the Manila Sports Council (Masco) head.
Manila, which has lodged complaints in different disciplines including gymnastics and chess, was allegedly offered next year’s staging of this annual multi-sports meet for children aged 12 years old and below if it withdrew its protests.
The STAR tried to reach Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain for comments but he was unavailable at presstime.
Sharing the spotlight was Pangasinan’s Rhemilyn Soriano, who completed a sprint double with a victory in the 200-m dash, a few days after ruling the long jump and the century dash.
Soriano, a daughter of a barangay captain and a public school teacher, clocked 27.4.31, beating unattached Krizia Apelar (27.9.89) and Cebu’s Lovejoy Intong (27.9.90) and crowning herself queen of the tracks.
Alistair Kennedy spearheaded Manila’s late juggernaut, hauling two of his four gold medals via victories in the boys’ (11-12) 50-m backstroke and 110-m freestyle, where she eclipsed Jan Michael Chui’s 59.28 mark set in Bacolod City last year with a time of 59.07.
Erika Joy Natividad (girls’ 9-10 50-m backstroke), Gian Daniel Berino (boys’ 7-8 50-m backstroke), Maria Carla Gonzalez (girls’ 7-8 50-m backstroke), Adrian Ramon Chua (boys’ 6-and-under 50-m backstroke), Winona Claire Yu (girls’ 7-8 100-m freestyle), Alethea Alcantara (girls’ 9-10 200-m butterfly), Marko Alab Adviento (boys’ 6-and-under 100-m freestyle) and Malco Alron Dacanay (boys’ 11-12 200-m breaststroke) were also part of Manila’s late rush.
But despite Manila’s last minute ripple, Laguna remained on its lofty perch as it ended the day with a collection of 35 gold, 16 silver and 20 bronze medals against Manila’s haul of 33-gold, 27-silver and four- bronze medals going into Friday’s finale.
Manila topped the girls‚ team event in badminton for its last gold of the day.
Like Fernandez, a grandson of DILG Undersecretary Alipio Fernandez, John Brylle Zapanta and Ryan Arabejo booked their fourth gold medal too with triumphs in the boys‚ 9-10 100-m freestyle and boys‚ 11-12 1500-m freestyle, respectively.
And so were the pair of Maria Georgina Gandionco (11-12 800-m freestyle and 200-m butterfly) and Banjo Borja (9-10 50-m backstroke and 200-m butterfly).
Johnmar Gonzales (7-8 100-m freestyle), Delia Angelo Cordero (6-and-under 100-m freestyle) and Denjylie Cordero (9-10 200-m breaststroke) were Laguna‚s other gold medal sources.
Joining Fernandez, Kennedy, Zapanta and Arabejo in quadruple gold medallists‚ group were Bacolod City‚s Carmela Nava and Antique‚s Chrizel Lagunday.
Other athletics winners were Orinetal Mindoro‚s Loi Wigbert Agleron (boys‚ 200-m dash), Cagayan de Oro‚s tandem of Marion Bolivar (boys‚ 1500-m run) and Aileen Tolentino (girls‚ 1500-m).