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Bago City honors ‘sports heroes’ Posted: 30 May 2022 07:49 AM PDT RECOGNIZING their latest feat at the recent Southeast Asian (SEA) Games 2021 that has brought another pride not only to Bago City but to the entire country as well, the local government honored two outstanding local boxers whom they considered "sports heroes."Rogen Ladon and James Palicte, who bagged the gold and bronze medals, respectively, at the 31st SEA Games held in Vietnam recently, were warmly greeted by their fellow Bagonhons through a hero's welcome and recognition ceremony staged by the city government led by Mayor Nicholas Yulo.Ladon, 28, of Barangay Lag-Asan, snatched the country's first gold medal in boxing after winning in the men's 48kg - 52kg class. Palicte, also 28, of Barangay Sampinit, placed third in the men's 57kg - 63kg class.They were treated to a motorcade in the city's major streets going to the Bantayan Park where a recognition rites was held yesterday morning, May 30."We are very grateful for this warm welcome," an elated Ladon said, adding that what characterize Bagonhon boxers are their strength, courage and determination.This is the second SEA Games gold medal for Ladon. He took home his first gold in 2019, following his silver feat in a previous competition in Singapore.Inspired by his brother who was also part of the Philippine boxing team, Ladon started training back in 2007 at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Sports Center in Bago City.Other than the Olympics and SEA Games, Ladon was also part of the Philippine boxing team during the 2018 Asian games in Jakarta, Indonesia."Be determined and strong as these will enable you to achieve your dreams in life," he told young Bagonhons who also aspire to succeed in their respective fields, whether in boxing or in other sports.Palicte also expressed gratitude to the city government and local officials for the recognition, saying that they are proud to also bring honor and pride to their hometown, Bago City.He recalled that it was his father who first saw his potential in boxing. Though, he was first interested in playing basketball."But I never regret that I pursue boxing," the 2019 SEA Games gold medalist said.Like Ladon, Palicte's advice young aspiring boxers to persevere, especially during the training, pray and have discipline.Both boxers are now preparing for an invitational match in Brazil sometime in July this year.They received P50,000 and P30,000 cash incentives from the city government, respectively. Their coaches also received P10,000 each.The city council, in a resolution presented during the ceremony, said by winning the national and international tournament, these athletes have made the country proud and shown to the world the spirit of Filipino competitiveness and excellence.For his part, Yulo said it's also an honor for the city that two of his residents have brought glory to the country through sports."It is always an honor for our country to receive a gold medal or any other medal in international sports competition," he added.The mayor pointed out that the government is really giving importance to sports programs as this helps in the development not only of the skills of the youth but also their values which they can use in their daily lives.It is really good that there's a grassroot sports program in order to produce champions like Ladon and Palicte, Yulo said, recognizing the late mayor Manuel Torres who started the boxing program in the city."It has helped a lot of Bagonhons, especially in terms of setting their directions in life," he said adding that "I hope this will serve as inspiration to the many, especially the young ones, to look up into these sports heroes and emulate what they are trying to do for themselves, family, city, province and country."Meanwhile, the city government also honored the teams who won in the Little League Philippines National Finals Softball Tournament which it hosted recently.It granted P50,000 cash incentives to the Bago City Juniors Softball League team as champion, P30,000 to Bago City Majors Softball League as first runner-up, and P20,000 to Bago City Senior Softball League for bagging the second runner-up title. Their coaches also each received P5,000 cash incentives."Congratulations to all of them," the mayor said, as he assured continuous support from the city government.Also present during the activity were some city councilors, department heads and employees, and family of the athletes.

Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue to USLS grads: Make your new adventure unique, real Posted: 29 May 2022 07:04 AM PDT "YOU are on your way to a new adventure that only you can design for yourself -- so make it unique, make it count (and) real!"This was the message of lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue before 1,319 graduates of the University of St. La Salle Bacolod Batch 2022 during their 65th Commencement exercises Sunday, May 29.Batapa-Sigue, who is the guest speaker, said that their achievement today is their parents' dream, and their alma matter for them."Twenty-five years ago, I did not know how or what to feel (and) it was a mixture of happiness, relief, and excitement. I felt relieved because I knew there were no classes the next day," she narrated about her own graduation.Batapa-Sigue added that she felt excited because she was going to tackle the final examinations of her life at that point – the 1997 Bar examinations.During that year, the passing rate turned out to be only 16 percent, which was among the lowest in the history of the legal profession, the lawyer recalled."Months from now, you will also face your final tests (and) for those who will take their board examinations or their government or professional licensures or for those who will start their careers, your enterprise, or apply for a job, I know you are all excited for this new chapter of your lives," she said.She shared a 2021 McKinsey research called "Defining the skills citizens will need in the future of work," which she bookmarks on her laptop as her go-to resource material for her regular lectures.The research, which involved over 18,000 people from different countries -- identified 56 foundational skills called Deltas -- short for distinct elements of talent. Deltas are a combination of knowledge, skills and attitude that will help citizens thrive and succeed in the future of work."You cannot learn these skills overnight, not even within the time you spent in college (as) it will take time to develop, and you need to apply them and hone them," Batapa-Sigue stressed.She added that the 56 skills are divided into four categories -- cognitive skills, interpersonal skills, self-leadership, and digital skills.Cognitive skills include critical thinking, problem-solving, logical reasoning, understanding biases, and seeking relevant information, which is why one needs to have planning skills, time management, prioritization, agile thinking, and learning ability."You need communication skills, and among the powerful forms are storytelling, public speaking, asking the right questions, synthesizing messages, and active listening," the lawyer emphasized.She said it would help them have mental flexibility, creativity, and imagination, translated knowledge to different contexts, and adapted different perspectives.Interpersonal or people skills involve the ability to secure win-win negotiations, craft and inspire visions and organizational awareness, develop relationships, and empathy, inspire trust, humility, sociability, teamwork, foster inclusiveness, motivate different personalities, resolve conflicts, and collaborate.McKinsey 2022 collaboration challenge states that "collaboration is no longer just a buzzword. It is a personal and professional skill. Self-leadership means self-awareness and self-management, understanding your emotional triggers and self-control, understanding your strengths, and showing integrity, self-motivation, and self-confidence."The fourth skill is a digital skill but in the interest of time, she invited the graduates instead to visit her site -- jocellebatapasigue.com -where they will find her full speech including all the readings she cited."It is essential to adopt a mindset of life-long learning – the very essence of education - the ability to learn, and the capacity to re-learn, to re-skill, to upskill at every chance you get, and the ability to unlearn," Batapa-Sigue also told the graduates.She said that by continuing to learn, we generate more public value. We give more meaning to the learning process."We live in a hyper-connected and fast-paced world today; therefore, use your education strategically - as a strong foundation, as a starting point and as you receive your diplomas today, think about the future and ways to give back," she also said.Meanwhile, Batapa-Sigue noted that her beginnings as a lawyer allowed her to give back -- to fulfill her promise to the Lord, to seek justice for His children and she helped in the rescue of more than forty human trafficking victims."Together with my husband, Atty. Arnel Sigue, who is here with me today –– we handle cases of rape, abuse, and exploitation of women and children," she said.Every day is an opportunity to give back because the Lord has granted our dream of becoming lawyers, the former Bacolod City Councilor emphasized."My dream in 2004 was to help generate thousands of jobs for our city with the help of the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology and now see thousands of digital jobs and Bacolod City as one of the Philippine's center of excellence in ICT is a fulfillment of that dream," she said.She said that she continues to help different cities build their innovation ecosystems to generate more jobs, investments, and opportunities for their citizens."I continue to help improve public service and government systems in various capacities –- as a policy innovation consultant, a digital governance advocate, a mentor, and a leader," she assures.She noted also that being a leader is also about giving back and that leadership is not about having people follow you, rather, it's about inspiring people to explore, understand, consider, and apply your ideas, insights from your own experience, and solutions you have tested and iterated -- so they can also succeed.Leadership is not about putting the leader on a pedestal. It is about looking at the different frameworks the leader had scaled and made to work (or learning from what did not work) -- or learning from the leaders' lessons -- so it gives you hope, gives you a chance, gives you a voice.Leadership is not walking in front of everyone you lead. It is about guiding everyone you show front, back, and center. It is not always hugging the limelight on the front but working with everyone else in the backend.Leadership is not about the applause, the wild chanting of the crowd of your name. It's the daily round of "thank yous" and "God bless yous" that you get from strangers around you who benefit from your knowledge, your example, and your leadership."Leadership is not a position. It is a calling—a journey," she pointed out, adding that she has achieved all accolades because of the people who believed in me, who helped her grow, and who helped me lead.For her, all our achievements in life will be worthless without a community to share them with and all our accomplishments will be useless without helping others accomplish their dreams."All our awards will mean nothing when we have not given hope, even just to a single human being," she reminded the graduates.

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