Overcrowding

(This letter is addressed to Cesafi Commissioner Felix Orteras Tiukinhoy Jr. )

CEBU City basketball enthusiasts will once again watch in awe basketball players displaying dazzling moves when Cesafi (Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.) opens at the same hot Cebu coliseum soon.

Basketball-crazy Cebuanos are again in a frenzy buying tickets expecting to watch good matches throughout the championship season. But if left uncontrolled, I’m afraid spectators can become rowdy and unruly.

Sir, it is in this context that I am asking you, as a Cesafi commissioner, if it is within your power and control to regulate and apply systems in selling tickets.

I had a terrifying experience watching game 5 of the championship series between the University of Cebu (UC) and the University of Visayas (UV). I forgot the year but Fajardo was still playing at UC.

The coliseum was jam-packed. There were so many people they virtually blocked all exits. You could not find a single empty space except in the court.

Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama was courtside, furiously shouting for people to clear the sidelines and threatening to stop the game. People began spilling in to the court. How did this happen? When my brother went to use the comfort room outside, he texted me that he could not get back in because people were blocking the exit and they refused to move.

While outside, my brother saw Cesafi staff manning the entrance allowing people to enter. They charged P20 per person but they didn’t issue any ticket.

The corruption and greed of Cesafi staff resulted in the coliseum bursting at the seam with people. And it was scary.

Sir, I love basketball. I love the game. Like you, it’s my passion. I love to watch it live, but if crowd control and regulation are not in place, I’d rather enjoy it in the comfort of my home. --Hermilino J. Magallon Sr., Inayawan, Cebu City

Oval rules

The Cebu City Sports Center has a set of rules for the use of the oval. These include designating lanes for runners and walkers and prohibiting the eating of food or spitting, among others. However, some users ignore the rules. There are the athletes of the University of Cebu who act as if they own the oval. They occupy two or three lanes, where they stretch, joke among themselves, talk. They don’t care if they force other users to get out of their way.

There are the Abellana students who get on the oval to walk to the exit on the P. del Rosario side in the afternoon. The rules are clear about being in proper attire when entering the oval. Apparently, comprehension is not one of their subjects.

I caught two Abellana students playing kick with a plastic bottle on the oval earlier in the week. I left them alone at first until they walked out and left the plastic bottle in the middle of one of the lanes. I called their attention and told them to pick up the bottle and throw it in a non-recyclable garbage can.

Then there are the adults who brazenly ignore the rules. Kids, I can understand. They’re kids. But adults should know better.

They continue to walk on the runner’s lane. They continue to spit or bring food. Some bring toddlers and let them loose around the oval.

I’m grateful for the facility. But I hope some people will realize that it’s for everybody. It’s not their private playground.

As for the administration, why come up with a set of rules and not implement them? Then again, it could not even prevent a burglary inside one of its offices.