AFC B LICENSED COACH PERCY GUARIN TEACHES THE TEACHERS OF MARAWI BASIC FUTSAL SKILLS DURING THE FIRST PACE OF THE LIGA ESKWELA IN OCTOBER LAST YEAR.
THE hearts of the kids of war torn Marawi City in Lanao del Sur, have been broken again as the much awaited Liga Eskwela Football Festival set on Sunday has been postponed because of this cruel Corona Virus that has continued to ravage the lives of countless of people world wide including one here in Northern Mindanao.
Department of Education Marawi City Division OIC Superintendent SDS Pharida L. Sansarona announced today (March 12, 2020) that with the country currently in a State of Public Health of Emergency, the one day competition Liga Eskwela Festival, organised by the Henry Moran Foundation and Gawad Kalinga has been postponed.
“With the country currently in a State of Public Health Emergency due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, we regret to announce that the Liga Eskwela Festival on March 15, 2020, has been postponed until further notice,’’ she said in a memo released by Marawi City Department of Education Chief of Records section and Division Information Technology, Paramata M. Bantuas PhD.
The memo also states that in line with the official Malacañang and Department of Health’s advisory, the Marawi City Division is taking this step as a precautionary measure of keeping everyone safe.
“We will keep you updated on the new schedule. Thank you for your understanding,’’ Sansarona added.
The Liga Eskwela Festival is supposed to be the final part of Marawi Liga Eskwela Futsal program initiated by the Henry Moran Foundation of CEO Danny Moran and Gawad Kalinga.
The first part of the program was the Train the Teachers Course held last Oct. 18-19 at the Amai Pakpak Elementary School covered court. The second part was the training of the students by the teachers who joined the Train the Teachers two-day training course.
The Liga Eskwela Festival is supposed to be the kick-off of the final phase of the program which is the Liga Eskwela proper. Players boys and girls aged 10 years old and under from nine School Districts from all over Marawi City were set to compete in the festival and the Liga Eskwela.
Meanwhile, Henry Moran Foundation CEO Danny Moran has also express disappointment in the current development and announced that All Liga Eskwela have all been suspended including the Marawi Liga Eskwela Festival.
“All Liga Eskwela games are suspended but this may continue the next school year after the summer break,’’ he said.
Liga Eskwela is a nationwide project of the Henry Moran Foundation to promote Futsal in public schools in NCR, Bacolod, Davao, Cebu and Marawi.
These announcements by the Department of Education and the Henry Moran Foundation came in just in time as the local Department of Health and the Cagayan de Oro City government also announced that a 53 year-old man from Iligan City is fighting for his life and confined at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC).
The man is reportedly positive of the Corona virus.After hearing this report, people from Northern Mindanao particularly from Cagayan de Oro have begun to worry and have started emptying the supermarkets with disinfectants and rubbing alcohols as precautions against the virus.
School classes have been suspended in many schools and sports events have been cancelled like the Del Monte Football Cup set in the middle of April.
Marawi children and Department of Education have been waiting for this Liga Eskwela and its postponement is a big disappointment for them as they are still recuperating from the trauma effects of the Marawi war in 2017.
The only hope for the children is that the Liga Eskwela is not cancelled and organisers are hoping to relaunch the project when the virus are gone hopefully after the summer holidays. (l.biantan@gmail.com)
