LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte, Feb. 3 — Asian decathlon gold medalist Jesson Ramil Cid, who hails from Dingras, Ilocos Norte, led the 38 individuals and 16 groups in receiving the first “Sirib Youth Awards” held Sunday evening in front of the capitol here as part of the highlight celebration of the 196th Foundation anniversary of Ilocos Norte.
As backgrounder, history record showed that on February 2, 1818, a Spanish Royal Decree was issued officially dividing Ylocos territory into two provinces, namely, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.
Governor Imee Marcos said the award recognizes all young residents in the province who excelled in their respective fields.
The awards were categorized into international and national levels.
Cid earned the accolade to lead the awardees in the individual category of the international level after he was named as the “New Iron Man” of the country after he won gold in the 27th South East Asian Games in Myanmar late last year.
The group category in the international level was the Laoag City Children’s Choir – the first placer in the Sing N Joy Manila 2013: 1st Philippine International Choral Competition – Children’s Choir Competition.
The youngest awardee was a 6-year-old child while the oldest was 24-year-old Roger Tapia, third placer in the 7th ASEAN Paralympics 2014 in Myanmar on January 14-20, 2014.
The awardees received medals, trophy and cash incentives; and certificates for coaches.
Before the awarding rites, more than 1,000 runners staged the 3-km RUNiag 2018 evening fun run with a theme: Ilocos Norte Running for 200 years.
The participants wore white or any neon colored clothes splashed with paints.
The fun run, which traversed the main road of Laoag City, added significance to the 196th founding year of Ilocos Norte. The 3-km route was filled with music and challenging obstacles.
Marcos said the Sirib award and Runiag18 activities were held for the youth as the ongoing countdown continues for Ilocos Norte’s bicentennial celebration till February 2, 2018.
She said the bicentennial movement involves the Ilocano youth as they are the ones who bear the potential to lead and bring back the greatness of the province.
The bicentennial movement was launched in 2012 and its initial program was the establishment of Sirib Express, an organization encouraging volunteerism among the youth aged 14 to 29.
