Thank you, Puerto - Sec. Lapus. Hagedorn: The trouble with hello is goodbye

“Thank you, Puerto Princesa.” These were the words of Sec. Jesli Lapus as he recognized the “invaluable support of the City Government, especially the personal attention of Mayor Edward Hagedorn” in the staging of the Palarong Pambansa 2008 which ends today.

The event “went smoothly as planned”, the secretary said, in a brief message sent to the Palaro Media Center.

On his part, Mayor Hagedorn said that Palaro 2008 “was a big success” as he also stressed that “the past days have been exciting for Puerto Princesans” while lamenting that “it’s just too bad that good come to an end”.

Waxing sentimental, the mayor, in his closing message, quoted lines from a popular song to describe his feelings about the games, “the trouble with hello is goodbye’.

A similar view was shared by Sec. Lapus, when he said: “As records were broken, new friendships were forged,” adding “our athletes learned a lot about excellence in performance and character”.

The mayor commended referees and umpires “for their fairness and judiciousness,” the coaches and players for becoming the epitome of good sportsmanship, the winners for being magnanimous in their triumph and those who failed to win for being gracious losers”.

Mayor Hagedorn also lauded the full cooperation extended by the Department of Education as well as his “fellow workers in the local government, particularly the Engineering Department and the cleanliness committee.

The Palaro ends at 2 p.m. today with the mayor delivering the closing message, after which he will award the trophies with DepEd Undersecretary Ramon Bacani and Dr. Luisa Yu, DepEd assistant director for the host MIMAROPA Region.

Vice Mayor Cecilio Bayron and Supt. Servillano Arzaga of the host City Schools Division will lower the host city and Palaro flags before the lowering of the regional banners. The thanksgiving prayer will be sung by the Puerto Princesa City Choir.