TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte
– Skimboarding in Region 8 was boosted when Tanauan, Leyte Mayor
Roque A. Tiu was invited as guest of honor at the Skim Fest in
Singapore sponsored by Skim Asia Federation, on June 24.
More than 100 skim
boarders belonging to ten different skimboarding groups attended the
Singapore Skim Fest 2006 which was held at the South East Bay Area
which is a place frequented by Singaporeans during weekends.
The occasion gave the
Philippines the chance to promote the first International Skimboarding
Competition which will be held in Tanauan, Leyte in April 2007. The
Skim Asia Federation pledged to support the undertaking not only by
promoting it to the Skim Asia Federation members in Hongkong,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Australia but also in the United
States.
The Skim Asia will
also help in the organization and management of the competition. The
officers led by the executive director will come to Tanauan, Leyte
during the competition.
Mayor Tiu said that
already, two manufacturers of skimboards and other water sports
equipments, one from Malaysia and the other one from Australia,
already agreed to sponsor the forthcoming International Skimboarding
in Tanauan, Leyte.
He added that he has
learned a lot from Skim Fest in
Singapore
and that from the learnings, he hopes that he will be able to help
improve the Skimboarding water sports in the
Philippines. He
said that with the support of Congresswoman Remedios Petilla of the
first district of Leyte who has been doing a lot to promote
skimboarding in the district, and with the help from the youthful
governor of the province of Leyte, Hon. Carlos Jericho Petilla who is
a well-known water sports enthusiast, he has no doubt that
Skimboarding in Leyte and in the whole of Region 8 will go a long way.
Skim Asia Federation
recognizes that Skimboarding in the Philippines started in the
Municipality of Tanauan. Some of the officers who were around during
the 2nd National Skimboarding Competition in April at the Tanauan
shorelines all agree that the place is more beautiful and conducive to
skimboarding than the shorelines at Singapore.
Some skimboarders from
Singapore will come to the Philippines in October in order to practice
and test run the Tanauan waters and the other neighboring coastal
municipalities in Leyte and Samar, Mayor Tiu concluded.
