After the Heroes Wall of Fame Concert last Friday at Kalei’s Bar on Km. 4, the paintings of the remaining inductees to the Heroes Wall of Fame shift to overdrive at the Baguio Athletic Bowl.
Artists Ged Alangui and Gladys Anne Labsan are expected to have their hands full until mid-October as they finish painting the last phase of the mural project at the bowl or The Final Push.
The Final Push will see 85 athletes and sportsmen at the topmost portion of the grandstand, some 140 meters long. Labsan has completed most of the Running Wall component featuring some 28 former and present athletes.
The likenesses of former Gintong Alay athletes like David and Manuel Carmelo, Arturo Alimbuyao, Eduardo Laureano, Redentor Bautista, Jose de Vera, Albert Caoili, Ernesto Mendoza, Ruben Kiang and Jeff Tamondong, Alex Cabosura, Sandi Menchi Abahan, long jumper Kath Santos and Rosario Alberto and the Ramos family of Jet, Lou Ann, Josh, Arrow and Dash have been completed.
Labsan will also include the Mandapats of Federico Sr. and Jr., Romeo and Julius and former national team members Eden Banta, Jesusa Jose and Flor Cachero.
She will also paint the Leonor Fe Brawner and John Hongitan from archery, former national bowler Rebecca Watanabe, and dancesport great Stephaine Sabalo, bike racer Ranidel Resuello, amateur golf great Fred Puckett, and Fil-Am Golf Invitational Tournament co-founder Sen. Rogelio de la Rosa.
She is also scheduled to paint basketball greats Romualdo Cabading, Florendo Ritualo Sr., and Benedict Fernandez. She will also have on the same wall basketball international referee Ferdinand Pascual.
A bas relief of PBA legend Robert Jaworski, Sr., who was born here, will be placed beside Labsan’s basketball wall and to be done by sculptor Kigao Rosimo.
Alangui is expected to finish the martial arts component, with the arnis squad needing completion. Of the four arnisadors to be included, Abegail Abad and Elmer Manlapas are completed, while two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medal winner Crisamuel Delfin and Eza Rai Yalong, who are still with the Philippine team, are yet to be completed.
“I just saw one great photo of Crisamuel and I like that to be painted on the wall,” said Alangui, who is saddled with barangay duties at City Camp Central where he is also a kagawad.
Mixed martial artists and wushu players are up next for Alangui. This includes MMA fighters Eric and Eduard Kelly, Jeremy Pacatiw, and Danny Kingad. Wushu sanda player Gideon Fred Padua will join his elders from the same discipline, like Michael Humiding, Rolly and Roger Chulhang, George Lusadan, Marvin Sicomen, and the late Rexel Nganhayna.
Karate black belts Buguias mayor Ruben Tinda-an and the late Arsenio Dawingan, Sr. will join taekwondo djinns Kobe Macario and Keno Anthony Mendoza.
Lined up for Alangui are muay Thai greats Edzel Ngina, Billy Alumno, and Zaidi Laruan.
The latest additions for Alangui are wrestler Jason Balabal, retired boxer Jouvilet Chilem, and kickboxer Jomar Balangui.
The Final Push’s 85 athletes and sportsmen, when completed, will see 133 murals at the grandstand and the walls fronting the volleyball courts. The earlier paintings include that of the former Team Lakay by Harold Banario and the Legends of Labsan that include Rey Tam, Hector Begeo, Gerry Dino, Erlinda Lavandia, Jeordan Dominguez, and Divine Wally, among others.
Backed by MPT Mobility, the Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights, the Philippine Veterans Bank, Jomarcann Construction, Davies Paints, Boysen, and the Baguio Filipino-Chinese Community, the mural project was started in October 2022.
A concert for a cause was staged on September 13 and an indigenous people athletes exhibit at Luisa’s Café by Alangui is also slated as a side event for the mural painting in hopes of raising funds that will support the final stages of the project.
Friday the 13th was staged at Kalei’s Bar and featured performers like The Edralins Arman Bergavera, as well as a 21-year-old blind girl taking up education at Saint Louis University.
