ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry P. Treñas has ordered an investigation of all sports activities using the name of the Iloilo City government and Dinagyang Festival for possible wrongdoings.
He issued the order in the wake of social media posts questioning the prizes for the First Iloilo City of Love Dinagyang Duathlon on Jan. 7.
“All sports activities using the name of the city government and Dinagyang will be investigated. We will not allow any issues to mar our celebration,” said Treñas in a statement.
He tasked City Administrator Melchor Tan do the probe.
Over the weekend, one of the participants posted on Facebook his concern; he was expecting a prize of P4,000 as third placer for the 46-above category. However, he only received P500.
Based on the Facebook post of the organizer Iloilo Active Sports, the P8,000 cash prize for champion, P6,000 for second placer and P4,000 for third placer (plus trophy each) are for overall male, overall female, and team relay winners. These prizes appear on the official poster of the sport activity.
Furthermore, additional winners per age category would receive cash prizes (with trophy): P1,000 for first placer, P800 for the second placer, and P500 for third placer.
The age categories include 25 & under (individual male), 26-35 (individual male), 36-45 (individual male), 46 & above (individual male), 25 & under (individual female), 26-35 (individual female), and 36 & above.
Councilor Johnny Young, who was one of the sponsors and supporters of the sports event, opined that there might be a miscommunication or an expectation with/among other participating athletes about the prizes.
Meanwhile, the Iloilo Sports Development Division clarified that their office was not a partner nor was involved in the said Dinagyang duathlon event.
In its statement, it added that the event was not listed in the office’s official list of Dinagyang events./PN
