3 Mindanaons win silver, bronze medals in international competitions
SPORTS • 22:00 PM Tue Jul 25, 2023
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By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY - Two from the Bangsamoro region and another from Soccsksargen gave Mindanao honor for having garnered medals in a Taekwondo competition in South Korea and the 55th International Chemistry Olympiad in Switzerland.
The Taekwondo jins Mark Balcita and Rico Teraytay each got silver medals in the July 21-24 World Taekwondo Hanmadang Championship Games in Seongnam, South Korea.
Education officials in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao confirmed the feats of Balcita and Teraytay on Tuesday and even supplied the media community in central Mindanao with photos of them showing their medals while in Seongnam in South Korea’s Gyeonggi province.
Balcita is a resident of Barangay Rosary Heights 9 here while Teraytay hails from nearby Barangay Awang in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, both in BARMM’s core territory.
“We are proud of them,” Maguindanao del Norte Gov. Abdulrauf Macacua told reporters Tuesday, referring to Balcita and Teraytay.
The duo, who learned Taekwondo in the Hearts of the Champion School in Datu Odin Sinsuat, were in a 12-member Philippine team that participated in the competition, according to BARMM officials.
The third to have made proud the residents of Region 12, or Soccsksargen area, is the 17-year-old Gelraycs Jules Fornan, who got on Sunday a bronze medal in the 55th International Chemistry Olympiad in Zurich.
His having garnered a bronze medal in the Olympiad was first announced by his classmates and teachers in the Philippine Science High School Region 12 Campus in the regional capital Koronadal City.
Each of the 90 states that participated in the July 16-25 Zurich competition was represented by four compatriot students, according to sources from the regional office of the Department of Education-12 in Koronadal City.
Besides Fornan, also in the Philippine team that participated in the Zurich olympiad were Lemuel Acosta, Kiersten Gene Calubaquib, and Mohammad Nur Casib from the central Luzon, national capital region and central Mindanao campuses of the Philippine Science High School, respectively.