A person with disability (PWD) from Sibulan, Negros Oriental bagged four trophies during the Central Visayas PWD Paralympics Games 2012 hosted by Cebu City held last July 7 to 8.
Ryan Joseph D. Fontelo, 28, from Poblacion, Sibulan town, clinched the championship awards in two games: table tennis singles and badminton doubles. He also landed second place in table tennis doubles and badminton singles.
Aside from Fontelo, Giller Balubar from Tayasan town also bagged 3rd place in two swimming events: freestyle and backstroke.
Fontelo and Balubar were part of the delegation from Negros Oriental who competed in the paralympics games this year at the Cebu City Sports Center upon the invitation of Cebu’s Committee on PWD chaired by Arleigh Jay Sitoy.
The Paralympics featured games like swimming, track and field, table tennis, badminton and wheelchair basketball.
The participation of the PWD delegation from Negros Oriental in the regional PWD games was financed by the provincial government through the PWDs Welfare Development Program administered by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
The provincial government allots P600,000. annually for the PWDs Welfare Development Program, said Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Alice Lagarde.
Lagarde stated that this is the first time the province sent a delegation to the regional PWD games.
Fontelo, in an interview, thanked the provincial government for the privilege of bringing honor to the province. “Without their financial assistance, we would not have been able to compete in the games.”
Fontelo lost his left leg in a motorcycle accident in 2005 and prior to the accident, he was a freshman student of Mass Communications in Foundation University. He was already active in sports, having started playing lawn tennis at the age of 8.
After the accident, Fontelo refused to let his disability deter him from sports. He began to coach a basketball team and trained physically-abled players for volleyball and basketball.
He now sits as the president of the PWDs group in Sibulan. He is also the former vice president of the Ten Outstanding Persons with Disability Alumni Community (TOPDAC) here.
He challenged PWDs in Negros Oriental to come out and join in the activities for the differently-abled. “There are many talented PWDs here not just in the field of sports and they should not hide their talents and skills,” said Fontelo. (RMN-PIA7 Negros Oriental)
