By Jerome S. Galunan Jr.

It was another great year for Philippine football with the successful staging of the 4th Ceres Cup held over the weekend at the North Field, Carlos Hilado Memorial State College Football Field, and Sta. Maria Football Field, all in Talisay City.
The games also drew in various universities and colleges across the country scouting for potential players for the upcoming school year.
Mayor Neil Lizares of host-Talisay City thanked the Ceres Cup organizers for their continuous trust in choosing Talisay as the venue for this prestigious event, which for this year gathered around 30,000 athletes, coaches, parents and spectators.
Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr., for his part, felt honored for having football enthusiasts around the country gather in the province of Negros Occidental. “We have said time and again that the youth are the hope of our fatherland, and it is important that at their young age, we already start to hone their talents and skills for them to beautifully grow and become productive and responsible citizens of our country,” he said.
With football being one of the greatest sports today, he continued, “We are grateful for Ceres Negros FC for its continuing commitment in promoting football not just as a platform in developing sports heroes, but as an ideal venue to foster unity and friendship as well.”
“The recent football games in our province involving Ceres Negros FC and competing teams from our neighboring Asian countries have truly been an effective medium for us to showcase the best in our province and to promote football as a sports tourism,” he added./WDJ