After the successful celebration of Gawawayan Festival, a milestone event happened as Cauayan City hosted two (2) big occasions at the same time. These are the first ever Regional Invitational Sports Events (RISE) of the Department of Education Region 2, and the Philippines Association of Local Government Accountants’ 14th Luzon Geographical Conference on April 26–29, 2022.
Guests and visitors have converged in the city to experience the genuine accommodation of Cauayeos and what Cauayan City has to offer.
The first activity held is the Regional Sports Competition, in which the Department of Education called it DepEd Dos RISE (Regional Invitational Sporting Events) with the theme Rising for Quality Sports Transcending Challenge Through Partnership, which formally opened on April 26, 2022 at Benjamin G. Dy Sports Complex with a large crowd of attendees.
This is a gathering of young sports athletes and officials of the Department of Education showing their skills, talents, and sportsmanship with the end view of solidarity and unity after two years of deprivation of not having the CAVRAA or the Cagayan Valley Regional Athletic Association due to the pandemic caused by COVID 19.
The delegations came from the different provinces and cities of the region, comprising the provinces of Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Viszaya, Quirino, Batanes, and the cities of Ilagan, Santiago, Tuguegarao, and Cauayan.
In welcoming the delegations, Mayor Bernard Dy could not hide his joy and excitement as he himself was overwhelmed by the result of the efforts made by the Deped, especially the Division office of Cauayan City. This was the city’s first time hosting an athletic event and using the facilities of the newly built Sports Complex.
He mentioned that the event was the first multi sports competition in the Philippines approved by the Department of Education to conduct such an event in the wake of the pandemic.
“I am super overwhelmed. Hindi ako makapaniwala na narito tayo finally. Ito ay para maipakita natin na hindi lang dito sa Region 2 kundi sa buong Pilipinas na kaya nating magkaroon ng multi sports dito sa Pilipinas”, Mayor Bernard Dy remarked during his Welcome Greetings.
The opening program of the DepEd Dos RISE presented a spectacular performance from the 1000 members of the Kawayan Dancers following the parade of the delegations.
The keynote speaker was retired police general Guillermo Eleazar.
The 3-day successful sports competition showed the competency of very individual participants and their resiliency above and beyond anything else.
Meanwhile, the successful conduct of the 14th Luzon Geographical Conference of the Philippines Association of Local Government Accountants, where more than 3,000 delegates were gathered at the Isabela Convention Center (ICON) in San Fermin, Cauayan City.
Mayor Bernard Dy expressed his warm welcome and thanked the organizers for choosing Cauayan City as the venue for their convention. He gets the opportunity to showcase the best practices of Cauayan City’s becoming a smarter city, the first smarter city in the Philippines.
” I hope that we will be able to inspire you with this humble experience of Cauayan City, ” Mayor Dy remarked.
The holding of these two events was handled by the LGU- Incident Management Team (IMT), overseeing the smooth flow of the activity.
