The Navotas City Government has raised over half a million pesos following the successful staging of the Takbo ni Juan Para sa Iskolar ng Bayan 2017.
A total of 2,617 students, teachers, residents, city government employees, and representatives of business establishments in Navotas joined the annual fun run.
“A high quality of life—that is our dream for every Navoteño. To ensure this dream would become a reality, our city government gave priority to education,” said Mayor John Rey Tiangco.
“We believe that through having quality education, more opportunities will open for Navoteños,” he added.
Tiangco urged runners to encourage out-of-school youth to finish their studies and give importance to education.
“It has always been our goal to send all Navoteños to school and help them reach their aspirations in life,” he said. Jun David
The city launched the NavotaAs Academic Scholarship Program in 2011. It also started giving scholarships to student athletes in 2016. For this year, the city launched its scholarship for students with talents in arts.
The city currently has 437 scholars, including 260 academic scholars, 166 athletic scholars, at 11 art scholars. Of these, 131 have already graduated.
Champions in the Takbo ni Juan included Jo-Ar Lacno for the 3K Men’s Division; Altheia Kristine Marie Noguera, 3K Women’s Division; Michael Icao, 5K Men’s Division; and Rica Abon, 5K Women’s Division.
The city government also awarded establishments, barangays and schools with the most number of runners. Among them are Frabelle Corp., Barangay North Bay Boulevard South, Dagat-dagatan Elementary School, and Navotas National High School.
The city government also gave recognition to Jess Ushley Santos, 6, as the youngest runner and to Marcelo Peña, 81, and Erlinda Soriano, 66, as the oldest men and women runners.