By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Cadets from the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R) of Bacolod City made their presence felt with gold medal finishes in the 2023 Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Games Visayas Leg at the Iloilo Sports Complex on Tuesday, August 15.

The quartet of David Paul Balagat, John Lloyd Moreno, Romeo Constancio, and Christian Sericon captured the gold medal in the men’s 4×100-meter relay with a time of 49.6 seconds.

The group of Angelica Pacaro, Marla Jean Pacaro, Ciara Largavista, and Jocel Talaver snagged first place in the women’s 4×100-meter relay in 57.7 seconds.

Meanwhile, Piepet Prebillo of Filamer Christian School in Capiz and Peter Molina of Western Visayas State University captured gold medals in the women’s and men’s 200-meter run, respectively.

Prebillo captured the first-ever gold medal in the competition as she topped the women’s 200-meter run in 27.91 seconds, while Molina snagged the gold on the men’s side with a time of 23.50 seconds.

“Hindi ko po ini-expect na manalo. Ginawa ko lang po best ko,” Prebillo said.

“Masaya po ako na meron na ganitong tournament kasi po nakikita namin at naka-bonding ang ibang mga ROTC sa iba-ibang schools at regions,” she added.

“Actually, hindi ko na po inaasahan sana ‘yung gold medal kasi nakita ko na malalakas din ang nakapasok sa finals. Inisip ko na lang po na kaya ko ibigay ang best ko dito sa event ko,” Molina said.

Both Prebillo and Molina expressed gratitude for the revival of the ROTC Games as it will help mold the younger generation to be good citizens of the country.

“It is good that our officials have decided to revive the ROTC because this will help the students become good leaders and shy away from temptations of vices,” Prebillo said.

“I really also wanted to help young people in their studies. That’s why I wanted to be a teacher. The revival of the ROTC would really help students to be guided in the right direction through discipline,” Molina said./ASC, WDJ