Villegas to grace PRISAA meet

MANILA, Philippines - Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas, D.D., will be the guest of honor and speaker in the opening of the 2013 PRISAA (Private Schools Athletic Association) National Games on Feb. 11 at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center in Lingayen.

A day earlier, the PRISAA celebrates its 60th anniversary with the presentation of Diamond Jubilee Awards to individuals who have displayed unwavering support to the organization.

The theme of this year’s competition is PRISAA: Celebrating 60 years of Excellence in Sports.

According to PRISAA national chairman Dr. Emmanuel Angeles, key provincial officials led by Gov. Amado Espino Jr. and Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Calimlim Jr., Lingayen Mayor Ernesto Castaneda Jr., CHED Region I director Caridad Abuan and PRISAA national president Atty. Gonzalo Duque have lauded the sportsfest in separate messages.

One of the highlights of the opening program is the Drum and Bugle Corps exhibition with performers from the San Carlos College, Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation and University of Luzon.

Hosted by PRISAA Region I, the national games will gather 5,000 athletes, officials and coaches from 17 regions. Competition will be conducted in 18 different individual and team events.

The search for the Mutya ng PRISAA 2013 and the vocal solo and duet competitions will be held on Feb. 13 at the Sison Auditorium of the Lingayen Capitol Complex.

PRISAA is the country’s largest national sports association with more than 500 member colleges and universities from 17 regions. Since its revival in 1990 by Angeles and with very minimal support from government, it has been successfully staging provincial, regional and national competitions every year geared towards countryside youth development through sports.

Among the well-known former PRISAA athletes were Lydia de Vega, Elma Muros, Josephine dela Vega, Mona Sulaiman, Rogelio Onofre, Jerry Codiñera, Marlou Aquino and EJ Feihl.