The annual Salingkusog games of Visayas State University has always been branded as a celebration of sportsmanship and camaraderie. But for a long time since the theme which means “to transfer strength” was born in 2022, it has been tied to several issues that somehow disconnects it away from its true purpose: to celebrate the transference and cultivation of strength, discipline, camaraderie, and sportsmanship across all competitions—the very essence of Salingkusog.
Just like last year’s edition which was marred by controversies with the surge of disqualification cases among several athletes due to the lack of medical certifications, this year was no different.
If you’re into pop culture, you’ll probably be familiar with the Miss Universe 2015 fiasco where Philippines’ bet Pia Wurtzbach, was initially declared 1st runner-up only to find out that she was the real winner. Miss Colombia, who was crowned the initial winner of the contest, was left deranged in trauma. Since then, Colombia or “na-Colombia” has been used colloquially as someone who had a sweet taste of victory for a while before it was taken away. A sort of the same case happened for this year’s Salingkusog.
What happened
On October 30, during the closing ceremony of the 2024 intramural games, the host announced that Centicore Vanguard, represented by the standalone College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS), was the overall champion of the annual sporting event. They were followed closely by the Luring Sirens, Ascendant Chimera, and Lethal Orthrus, in that order.
The victory of the Centicore Vanguards came not a surprise to many since CAFS has always been a formidable team in every intramural games with an outstanding track record. They won the championship in 2022 and placed third overall in 2023. This is the only year since the Salingkusog theme was fully adopted as the brand of VSU’s intramural games, that CAFS was a standalone faction akin to its growing population.
Its usual partner, the College of Nursing (CoN), was transferred to the Ascendant Chimera, along with the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and College of Management and Economics (CME). This did not hinder the team from bagging medals in various sporting and non-sporting events, with both of their candidates even winning the coveted crowns of the Ginoong Malakas at Binibining Maganda 2024 pageant.
Meanwhile, for the Faculty and Staff category, the Wild Werewolves, formed by the team of staff from the Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance (OVPAF), CoEd, and VFES, were announced as the winner. Trailing behind them is the Mighty Pegasus, Blazing Phoenix, and Soaring Garuda.
However, just a few minutes after the announcement, while the Vanguards and Werewolves were basking in their victory, Mr. Louie Gula, the coordinator of this year’s Salingkusog, took to the stage to announce that there had been a mistake in the results.
“After a careful verification…it was an honest mistake that was made by the Salingkusog Committee on Games and we have to correct this one,” Gula announced.
He then requested that the trophies be returned on stage. He also announced that a recount will be conducted at the quarters of the OVPAF (the head team for the Wild Werewolves) at 9AM the next day, October 31.
What went wrong?
Mr. Gula stated that the Secretariat Committee led by Dr. Magdalene Unajan, the head of the Department of Computer Science and Technology (DCST), was supposed to be working hand-in-hand with the University Integrated Media Center (UIMC) to flash a powerpoint presentation on the screen of the medal tally. However, at around 1:30pm, while the Dancefest was being held, he found out that they had not yet finalized the tally and had not prepared the presentation. This pushed them to rush the encoding of the results in order to mount up a tally board for the audience to see.
“I was expecting that during the third day, since there were only a few games left to be encoded, prepared na unta an tally. Only to find out when we were at the secretariat’s station [at the VSU Gymnatorium] during the closing ceremony that some of the games that we’re already finished in the past days have not yet been encoded and wala pa an powerpoint.”
He added that tabulating the result should have been easy work since a lot of the games were already conducted in advance last October 22, 25, and 28 – meaning they only had a few more results to encode and tally for the last day.
An Amaranth source also depicts Dr. Aleli Villocino, Dr. Chariz Limbo, Mr. Edilberto Artiga, Mr. Dennis Joel Cerna, and Mr. Louie Gula, were present in the secretariat’s station for the tallying of the result. The document containing the tabulation was also said to have been signed by Mr. Gula, Mr. Artiga, and Dr. Unajan before it was handed out to the host for the official announcement— which Mr. Gula confirmed.
He added that due to pressure and time constraints, the initial tabulation of results did not undergo verification and were immediately announced.
After the announcement, Mr. Gula said he found out that results for some events were not included in the tally. There were also representatives from factions who inquired and raised their concerns about the initially announced results. This prompted them to conduct a recount and postpone the final announcement.
The issue on the Salingkusog guidelines
Policy wise, the IHK sent out guidelines to the different factions for the Salingkusog games. Article 10 section 3 of that guidelines states that “An Over-all Champion shall be declared and shall be based on the number of medals garnered by each team.”
This has sparked yet another surge of concerns as based on the medal tally, the Luring Sirens, formed by the College of Engineering and Technology (CET) and the College of Forestry and Environmental Science (CFES), garnered the most medals with a total of 245 (76 gold, 65 silver, and 104 bronze).
In defense, Mr. Gula said that they have informed the General Athletic Managers (GAMs) and Assistant General Athletic Managers (AGAMs) of each faction during one of their meetings that the basis of declaring the overall winner is the team with the most gold medals.
He added that disregarding the value of gold will just encourage the factions to fill up slots in their teams regardless if they win gold, silver, or bronze. This would diminish the efforts of athletes who strived to win in their respective competitions.
This should raise the question: are approved guidelines set in stone? What merits a policy change and how would it be implemented accordingly?
The long wait
It took two days before the official results for Salingkusog 2024 were published, and there was no statement attached to them. This left many wondering how the results were tabulated, with some even questioning their authenticity.
As expected, the news brought confusion and disappointment to many people, especially to the factions. The announcement also did not escape allegations and theories from netizens in social media.
“From the top daw, duwa balik ang tanan,” a netizen said. Another netizen wrote: “MGI MAN ATA NI? COOKING SHOW?”
Meanwhile, Ralf Andre Tabao, the president of the CVM-SSC of the Ascendant Chimera, also expressed dismay that they weren’t able to celebrate their victory on stage, but was still happy that their team got to clinched the championship title.
“During the games, we never really kept track of how many medals our team garnered because we were mainly focused on executing our tasks and ensuring that our athletes’ needs were met. However, deep down, we had a feeling we would be the champions—or at least the first runners-up—based on the results being posted in real-time. So, when the initial announcement was made, we were honestly a bit shocked and slightly disappointed,” Tabao said.
“We found a way to celebrate our faction’s accomplishments through our social media. We’re still proud of our faction, our athletes, and the students who contributed to this victory, and nothing will change that,” He added.
On one hand, Cyren Orais, the Vice President of the CAFS-SSC revealed that he was surprised to hear their faction’s name as the champion since based on their own tally, Ascendant Chimera should be on the lead.
“I was actually shocked when the hosts announced [that] the Ascendant Chimera placed 2nd runner-up because nag-track jud ko sa mga wins and losses namo, and I think majority sa mga events kay either Chimera and Vanguard ang maglaban for championship,” He said.
He also revealed that in order for them to win the championship title, they will need to win in at least two events in the Dance festival, but Vanguards only attained 2nd place in specific events.
“I'm still proud sa mga achievements nga nakuha sa Centicore Vanguard, [accumulating a total] of 90 golds. It was truly a remarkable experience as a stand-alone faction,” Orais added.
The real winners
In the end, the initial ranking of factions for the collegiate category shuffled drastically with all of the teams attaining new placements.
Ascendant Chimera, who garnered 94 gold medals, was declared the true winner of the 2024 Salingkusog games. They were the third placer in the first announcement.
The Centicore Vanguard, who had the full-circle “Colombia” experience, dwindled down to 2nd place with 90 gold medals. On the other hand, the Lethal Orthrus rose one step in the podium placing 3rd from their initial 4th placement.
Lastly, Luring Sirens, who also had experienced its own version of the “Colombia” effect, went two places down from the ranking and settled last in the overall tally.
For the faculty and staff category, Mighty Pegasus bagged the championship title, while the Wild Werewolves settled for second place. The Blazing Phoenix and Soaring Garuda took the third and fourth places respectively.
Moving forward, Mr. Gula commits that IHK will implement a more firm leadership in overseeing all committees involved in future intramural games to avoid such a situation from happening again. They will also revisit their Salingkusog guidelines such as the bearing of gold medals for future events. He also said that they will become more transparent.