Balik Baroto Regatta winners finally get long-delayed prizes

Local

WINNERS of the 2024 Sinulog Balik Baroto Regatta finally received their long-overdue cash prizes.

Several boat racers, including Anthony Monteron and Constantino Ramos from Talisay City, had previously raised concerns about the unpaid prizes, despite persistent follow-ups since March 2024.

Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, together with Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) Executive Director Elmer “Jojo” Labella, distributed the prizes on Monday, November 25.

Organizers admitted that the prize funds, amounting to P150,000, were excluded from the approved 2024 Sinulog budget, which caused the delay.

Labella revealed that SFI struggled financially due to the high costs of the 2024 Sinulog festivities at the South Road Properties (SRP) and adjustments made to the regatta’s categories, which exceeded the original allocation.

The Balik Baroto Regatta, held on January 20, at Il Corso in SRP, featured around 60 participants, including fisherfolk from Cebu, Tacloban, and Maasin.

Organized by David Odilao Jr., known as the Father of Sinulog, with support from the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Cebu City Government, the event promised winners P50,000 for first place, P40,000 for second, P30,000 for third, P20,000 for fourth, and P10,000 for fifth.

Garcia assured the public that similar delays would not affect the 2025 Sinulog Festival, saying "dili nani mausab (this won't happen again)."

"That was of the previous administration, of the previous mayor who handled it and the Sinulog Foundation... What is important, we were able to pay them up," he said.(MyTVCebu)