As the excited Mommy, Cynthia, pored over the SMS on her cell phone that afternoon, the first word read “Whoaaa!”, and her eyes suddenly lit with that knowing gleam and glint of welling pride. Ten year old Chester Jeith J. Abanador  of the St. Thomas School of Learning  won a Gold medal in the recently-concluded two-day Petron/SMART National Age Group Taekwondo Championships held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila from October 11-12, 2008. A member of the very competitive Sariaya Superfoot Gym Taekwondo Team headed by Coach Jeffrey V. Baranda, ten year old “CJ” bested other contenders to emerge as the cream of the crop in his division.

“CJ” was the only Yellow Belt among their team to be included in the Group 3-Boys Division, winning three consecutive games at 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm on Friday, October 11,  the first day of competitions. He won them all by wide margins, one of them via an automatic stoppage ruling. On the second day, October 12, he won the semi finals by a maximum point margin before facing his greatest challenge, a Blue Belt finalist from Valenzuela City. Unfazed, he won over his much seasoned opponent, was adjudged the champion in his category, and therefore worthy of the much coveted gold medal.

Emelita Almozara, deputy director of National Historical Institute, unveils the historical markers to three stately ancestral mansions in Sariaya, Quezon, giving government recognition to these houses. The unveiling and blessing rites were witnessed by local and provincial government officials, members of Tuklas Sariaya, and immediate members of the clans who own the old houses. Rina Marquez, great-granddaughter of the original owner of one of the mansions, tells of how celebrities and political leaders, including President Manuel Quezon, used to stay in the old concrete house, which the natives call "bahay na bato (house of stone)" adjacent to the centuries-old St. Francis of Assisi Church.

Watch video taken by INQUIRER.net contributor Delfin P. Mallari III on October 10, 2008. click here