CEBU CITY. – Aiming to get physically challenged children out of their shells and involved in sports, the Cebu City government formally launched over the weekend the inaugural Para Kids grassroots program at the Fort San Pedro here.
Present during the occasion were PSC Commissioners Walter Torres, who has oversight over para sports; and Ed Hayco and Cebu City Representative Jocelyn Llesol, who heads the group for people with disabilities (PWDs) in the city.
Also witnessing the occasion were Special Olympics Pilipinas national director Janvie Amido, para dragon boat rowing coach John Paul Maunes, the founder of the Philippine Accessible Disability Services Inc., and former national para athlete Arnold Balais.
“The advantage of this program is to encourage our young PWDS to come out and become physically active. They now have a starting point to develop their skills further, and — who knows? — they can become competitive and be national para athletes in the future,” Torres said.
“With so many stakeholders involved, including the deaf group, we aim to start a dialog among them so we can define and distinguish to what extent we can help and in what sport these children can get involved in,” Torres said of the project being held together with Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama.
