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Palarong Pambansa Postcard

DUMAGUETE CITY, NEGROS ORIENTAL- I'm here in this lovely city until Monday, but not really for sports, but for the annual convention of my church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines.

By coincidence, it's also Palarong Pambansa week, so I definitely had to check out some of the action.

On Wednesday morning my good friend Reverend Pere Sienes picks me up at my hotel and I ride with him on his motorcycle to the Siliman Ball Field.

Pere is the grandson of the founder of our progressive church, Toribio Quimada. He is also the coach of Silliman's Football team and was a defender for Navy for many years. He's still with Navy now but hopes to retire in three year's time.

Silliman Ball Field is weedy and uneven, just like almost every pitch in the country, but its presentable for the game we watch, between NCR's high school side and the one from Caraga.

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Taruc Mondia, who I've known for almost ten years, is at the game as an official. He offers me some sineguelas, which he says are just P30 a kilo.

The game kicks off and instantly one player stands out, Robert Corsame. The center mid fielder from Arellano University's juniors team seems to be NCR talisman. He has great technique on the ball and scores a terrific goal, slicing through the static Caraga defense to make it 3-1 in the second half.

But Caraga pulls one back for 3-2 before the final whistle. The teams congregate for a picture together and I introduce myself to Corsame. I'm told that although he grew up in Manila, he has roots here in Dumaguete.

Javier Bonoan also makes an appearance for NCR in defense. The tall Southridge product is the brother of Enzo Bonoan, who played for UAAP champs Ateneo in the UAAP season 75 seniors Football competition. He says he hopes to play for UP in the upcoming season but may also join his brother with the Blue Booters.

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Bonoan plays well but picks up a silly yellow card for... playing without shinguards. His coaches, Noel Herrera and Mike Agbayani, who also coaches Forza in the second division of the UFL, are not amused.

Silliman's Ball Field may not be the greatest pitch in the world but it does have a startlingly modern and well-maintained grandstand that has roof supports behind the seats, where they don't block the view. This is in contrast to some recent stadium designs that we know of.

Pere takes me to Lab-as Seafood restaurant on Piap Beach and we gorge on sweet and sour lapu-lapu and crispy kangkong plus some Shanghai fried rice.

Pere regales me with stories from his days playing in Navy alongside the likes of Joel Villarino and Roroy Pinero. They were one of the nation's top sides then.

He recounds how he played in a game between the National Team and Navy sometime between 1998 and 2000. It was a tuneup for the national team's stint in the Tiger Cup, the predecessor to today's AFF Suzuki Cup.

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A fight broke out and one Navy player was sent off. In spite of the red card, the National team player saw it fit to slap the offending sailor on the head as he walked off the pitch. Sienes took exception to this and whacked the national team star in the face.

(This is where I remind you that Pere is an ordained minister just like his mother and grandfather.)

All hell broke loose as a new set of scuffles erupted, resulting in the abandonment of the game and the indefinite suspension of nine Navy players, including Sienes.

Problem was, Navy was set to represent NCR in a big tournament in Davao. The NCRFA's Sec-Gen, the late Chris Monfort, allowed the players to play with one caveat: any disciplinary transgression from any of them would result in a lifetime ban.

They played and according to Sienes, “grabe, ang bait namin maglaro noon.”

Ever since Sienes moved back a few years ago he and some friends like Andro Cedrome and Vincent Solis have run the Silliman Cup, the de facto top tier of Football in Negros Oriental. The league has revitalized the game in a region that has produced excellent Footballers in the past, like Azkals assistant Diding Cabalida, and the Pinero brothers Roroy and Marlon.

Jeff “Pong” Liman, now the coach at San Beda, is also from Dumaguete, while Loyola Meralco Sparks Alexandro Elnar, Jayson Cutamora, and Jake Morallo hail from nearby Bacong. The Sparks goalie, Ref Cuaresma, is also from Dumaguete and has asked me to bring ten boxes of silvanas back to Manila.

Once he retires Sienes hopes to continue supporting the game with more Football programs. Currently he coaches Silliman, where his son, KL, plays.

After lunch I grab a few hours of sleep in the hotel then dash back to Silliman for another high school game, this one between powerhouse Western Visayas and Bicol. I arrive at the game with the Visayans leading 1-0, I'm told because of a goalkeeping error.

WV is obviously the stronger side, with a number 10 and a number 18 who are amazingly skilled. But an organized Bicol defense prevents any more goals as the game ends in very poor light, 1-0.

Green Archers Globe United's Ayi Aryee Nii is at the game. Earlier in the afternoon he coached NCR's U13 side to a handsome 4-1 win over Caraga. The Ghanaian bemoans the substandard nature of the officiating in the competition.

According to him two of his players made obvious fouls in the box and yet were not called.

Pere and I will be busy with the church convention but we hope to sneak out and catch a few more games. The future of Filipino Football is on display here in Dumaguete and I'd like to witness as much of it as possible.

Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.