NCR bets win big in Palarong Pambansa Day 2

LAOAG CITY, Philippines – A pair of 27-year records fell and a neophyte gymnast danced his way to five golds to steal the show as 17-time champion National Capital Region made its move for the early medal race leadership in Day 2 of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa Tuesday here.

Cris Ivan Domingo of NCR (400m) and Jhul Ian Cañalita of Central Visayas (5,000m) led the assault from the new generation in shattering a couple of old marks that stood for almost three decades since 1998.

Domingo, a Palaro first-timer from Epifanio delos Santos Elementary School in Malabon, ran laps on his opposition to time 54.29 seconds in the elementary boys’ 400m run, narrowly beating the 27-year record of 54.30 set by Sahipa Bassal of Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula) in the 1998 Bacolod edition.

A similar 27-year mark was broken by Tabuan National High School’s Cañalita, who clocked 15 minutes and 16.31 seconds in the 5,000m to surpass the 15:38.4 record of Davao Region’s Cresencio Cabal in the same Bacolod tourney.

Western Visayas’ Efren Gempeson Jr. (55.66) and SOCCSKSARGEN’s Keian Angelo Penaso (55.73) finished behind Domingo in elem boys 400m, as Cagayan Valley’s Elmer Dizon (15:22.91) and Western Visayas’ Welmer Jeck Labrador (15:25.84) completed the secondary boys’ 5,000m podium.

Joining Domingo and Cañalita in the royalty of new Palaro record holders were Western Visayas bets Mico Villaran (secondary boys’ 110m hurdles) and Josh Gabriel Salcedo (secondary boys’ discus throw) as well as Alfred Talplacido (secondary boys’ 400m) of Central Luzon.

Villaran (14.0) leaped past the 14.68 record of NCR’s Patrick Unso in 2010; Salcedo (45.52m) surpassed the 42.86m throw of Western Visayas’ Airex Gabriel Villanueva in 2023; and Talplacido (48.10) broke the 48.7.69 mark of NCR’s Jomar Udtohan in 2014.

A standout from the Romanito Maravilla NHS in Bacolod, the 17-year-old Villaran actually tallied 14.47 seconds in the Cebu Palaro for the new record right there and then but it was nullified along with other records broken due to the substandard track oval deemed short by 1.5 meters.

He made sure to break it all together this time here in Laoag for his third straight third gold as Palaro’s 110m hurdles king.

But it was first-timer Arman Hernandez Jr., a Carlos Edriel and Karl Jahrel Eldrew Yulo in the making, who snatched the spotlight to become the top multi-gold medalist so far in the hectic Day 2 under the scorching heat at the Ilocos Norte capital.

An eight-year-old prodigy in the elementary boys’ artistic gymnastics, the Palaro first-timer ruled the floor exercise, vault and horizontal bars to also clinch the individual all-around and team championship for NCR.

“Sobrang saya po. Training lang po talaga araw-araw ang sikreto,” said the pride of Don Carlos Village Elementary School in Pasay, who also won bronze in the pommel horse for a total of six medals.

Hernadez, who’s been with the Japan Cultural Grassroots Project of coach Munehiro Kugiyima for only a year, is eyeing the same Palaro success by his idol Eldrew and the Olympic feat down the stretch of two-time gold medalist Caloy.

“Opo, gusto ko rin po mag-Olympics at manalo ng ginto balang araw,” beamed Hernandez, a son of OFW dad and housewife, who opted for gymnastics over dancesport in choosing his athletic career path.

And he delivered right away, teasing a bright future for Philippine gymnastics.

Hernandez’s five-gold medal haul anchored NCR’s big day to take the leaderboard with 16 gold, 10 silver and three bronze medals. CALABARZON (12-13-7) and Western Visayas (7-5-7), aren’t far behind.

Meanwhile, joining Hernandez in the bemedaled list so far were Western Visayas’ Melchor Bataican III (arnis), CALABARZON’s Jemaicah Mendoza and Mar Aviel Carredo in chess, and NCR’s King Cjay Pernia (gymnastics), as well as NCR’s John Paul Rijie Soriano, CAR’s Zion Ysabelle Buenviaje and Chezka Nicolette Luzadas in taekwondo with two golds each.