LAGAWE, Ifugao Province—Prizes will be at stake for competition ranging from the familiar 10-kilometer relay to the obscure battawel race.
With P15,000 and P10,000 up for grabs, kids aged 16 and below will take part in the events that will be showcased in the two-day Gender and Development Indigenous Games.
They are among the 12 ethnic games that have attracted 438 participants from two tribes in the municipality of Lagawe. Activities kick off today at the Ifugao Provincial Capitol Plaza.
“I want these traditional games, or what we call indigenous sports exposed to the world so that they could also appreciate what is Ifugao, and what is the heritage of their ancestors,” said Governor Pedro Mayam-O.
Mayam-O discussed his thoughts on the Games following a courtesy call made by the Philippine Sports Commission, which was led by commissioners Celia Kiram, Charles Maxey and Philippine Sports Institute assistant director Henry Daut.
The kids come from the tribes of Tuwali and Ayangan.
Members of both tribes take pride in the 10-marathon relay and batawel race, a palay-carrying contest.
In the marathon relay, kids aged 13 and below will race up and down the mountain roads of Lagawe and Banaue in increasing distances of 800 meter, 1,500-meters and up.
The winning team gets P15,000 in cash while the runners-up receives P10,000 and P7,000.
And it will be held in the last day of competitions this Saturday.
Meanwhile, older kids are expected to take part in the battawel race.
The race involves contestants carrying heavy bundled rice husks in different weights placed in baskets.
The runners will run a certain distance to win medals, and cash prizes.
The conduct of the Games was made possible through technical coordination with Ifugao sports office chief Maureen Inhumang.
Other events that will also offer cash purses are the guyyudan, or tug-of-war, among elementary and secondary students.
The wrestling match called hinukting will be next on tap, followed bangngunan, or leg wrestling and competitions in akkad, or stilt-walking.
It will be followed by the ab-abba, or the man-carrying race. Then, there’s the bultung (wrestling), hanggul (arm wrestling) and ug-gub (grass dart throwing).