SIBALOM CHESS ASSOCIATION : Mga Sakup kang Sibalom

Mga Sakup kang Sibalom

The Sibalom Chess Association has divided Sibalom into eight areas for organizational purposes, and has suggested that the same areas be recognized regarding the Sirinipal sa Sibalom, an annual sports bonanza which one of us has envisioned. Those areas are the following:

Sibalom Aminhan (North Sibalom)

Sibalom Burutlakan (East Sibalom)

Sibalom Habagatnan-Burutlakan (Southeast Sibalom)

Sibalom Habagatnan (South Sibalom)

Sibalom Habagatnan-Saralpan (Southwest Sibalom)

Sibalom Saralpan (West Sibalom)

Ubus (Lower Poblacion of Sibalom)

Takas (Upper Poblacion of Sibalom)

Sibalom Aminhan is the area that is sometimes referred to as Piyak Suba, and consists of 16 barangays. They are the following:

Mojon

Rombang

Pangpang

Olaga

Biga-a

Villar

Cabariuan

Lacaron

Lagdo

Solong

Esperanza I

Esperanza II

Esperanza III

Cadoldolan

Igdagmay

Bongbongan I

Sibalom Burutlakan is the area that you reach after passing through Tipuluan in District IV, and consists of 15 barangays (almost as many barangays as those in Sibalom Aminhan). They are the following:

Bongbongan II

Sido

San Juan

Villahermosa

Iglanot

Igdalaquit

Salvacion

Maasin

Igsuming

Villafont

Bugnay

Igpanolong

Imparayan

Cabanbanan

Cabladan

Sibalom Habagatnan-Burutlakan is the area that you reach after crossing the Pis-anan Bridge (the bridge over Pis-anan River), and consists of 11 barangays. They are the following:

Indag-an

Luna

Tordesillas

Bontol

Tulatula

Calo-oy

Bululacao

Luyang

Lambayagan

Igparas

Grasparil

Sibalom Habagatnan is the area to the south of the poblacion and consists of 12 barangays -- seven barangays which either straddle or border the Initan River, one barangay which is a short distance from it, and five barangays which are to the west of the Tipuluan River after it is joined by the Initan River and before it reaches the poblacion. They are the following:

Cubay Sermon

Catmon

Pasong

Nagdayao

Panlagangan

Mabini

Pis-anan

Millamena

Calog

Initan

Igcococ

Tabongtabong

Sibalom Habagatnan-Saralpan is the area to the west of Mt. Igmitaw and of the neighboring mountains, and consists of 11 barangays (as many barangays as those in Sibalom Habagatnan-Burutlakan and almost as many as those in Sibalom Habagatnan). Those barangays are the following:

Catunggan I

Catunggan II

Catunggan III

Catunggan IV

Nazareth Tigbalua I

Tigbalua II

Insarayan

Egaña

Inabasan

Tig-ohot

Sibalom Saralpan is the area to the west of the poblacion, and consists of seven barangays (the area consists of seven barangays only but is more populous than Sibalom Habagatnan-Burutlakan which has 11 barangays). They are the following:

Bari

Alangan

Bongsod

Cubay Napultan

Ilabas

Pantao

Odiong

Ubus, or Ubus nga Poblacion kang Sibalom, is the area that corresponds to the lower portion of the poblacion and consists of two barangays. They are the following:

District 1

District 2

Takas, or Takas nga Poblacion kang Sibalom, is the area that corresponds to the upper portion of the poblacion and consists two barangays which, incidentally, are joined by a ridge. They are the following:

District 3

District 4

The division of Sibalom into those areas can also be adopted when it comes to interbarangay cooperation, or when municipal political officials or government employees need to coordinate with barangay officials in separate groups, or when the number of participants or participating groups for another community-based competition (not necessarily a sports competition) need to be limited to make it manageable. The Sirinipal sa Sibalom is intended to be just one -- although the most important one -- of the sports competitions of the municipal government, and in organizing other sports competitions, the municipal government may disregard those areas, but it would be wise to consider those areas regarding team events, for doing so would make a sports competition easier to organize.

The idea of dividing Sibalom into different areas regarding sports competitions has been considered for more than 10 years already (buhay run nga naistoryahan sa amun nga asosasyon ang dya nga ideya), and the purpose is to simplify those sports competitions, considering that the municipality has 76 barangays. As of 2001, the municipal government was already spending more than 50,000 pesos for the traditional competition in men's basketball, and yet was not organizing competitions in other events. There have been many municipal chess competitions in Sibalom since 1997, but almost all of them were organized by the Sibalom Chess Association; as for the many provincial chess competitions in the municipality during the last several years, they were organized by the Antique Chess Society. For many years, the municipal government ignored events other than men's basketball -- basically withholding developmental opportunities not just from women, but also from men who play non-basketball sports -- and the same can be said about almost all the other municipal governments in Antique. Sibalom has become a chess powerhouse in the province not because of the municipal government, but because of some chess players in the municipality who did not hesitate to render voluntary public service and who, instead of waiting for the municipal government to organize chess competitions, decided to be the ones to do so.

If all the 76 barangays would join a municipal competition in men's basketball, the cost would be as massive as the water in a creek from a deforested hill after a storm. And yet that is just one sports competition. If the municipal government would simultaneously conduct a competition in men's basketball and in many other events, including those for women, and if all the 76 barangays would send separate delegations (or a lot more delegations than those in the Palarong Pambansa), the cost would be as massive as the water in a river from a deforested mountain after a storm (bukun lang ti daw nagaarawas nga sapa kundi daw nagaarawas nga suba). For every basketball game alone, you would have to spend 700 pesos, to be distributed among the referees and the table officials. And so in a men's basketball competition -- or in any other competition wherein each game costs considerably -- the number of teams has to be limited.

In dividing Sibalom into different areas, the main basis was geography -- what is natural -- and such basis would be easily understandable to those who have gone to all the barangays of the municipality or who at least are knowledgeable about the map of the municipality, as the mentioned areas are usually bounded by rivers and ridges. Accessibility and sociology were also considered.

Regarding geography, the Sibalom River separates Sibalom Saralpan from Sibalom Aminhan, and the two areas are connected only by Pangpang Bridge and Solong Bridge. A ridge separates Sibalom Naaminhan from Sibalom Burutlakan. The Tipuluan River separates Pis-anan, a barangay in Sibalom Habagatnan, from Indag-an, a barangay in Sibalom Habagatnan-Burutlakan, but no river separates Indag-an from Luna, another barangay in Sibalom Habagatnan-Burutlakan. The Catungan Creek runs through Catungan I, Catungan II, Catungan III and Catungan IV which are barangays in Sibalom Habagatnan-Saralpan, and rice fields separate those barangays from Odiong, the barangay in Sibalom Saralpan which is closest to them. There is a ridge which stretches from District III to District IV, but District I and District II are generally flat; also, irrigation water first flows through Distict III and District IV before flowing through District II and District I, considering that the latter two barangays are on lower ground compared to the former ones; so the barangays in Takas are geographically distinct from those in Ubus.

Regarding accessibility, Bongbongan II is usually reached by crossing the Sibalom River from Sido, not by hiking a ridge from Solong, and so Bongbongan II should be considered part of Sibalom Burutlakan, not of Sibalom Aminhan.

Regarding sociology, most of the adults in Bongbongan II spent their high school years at Sido-San Juan National High School, not at Pangpang National High School where most of the adults in Sibalom Aminhan spent theirs, and so the adults in Bongbongan II have more affinity toward those in Sido and in San Juan than those in Solong and in Bongbongan I; for this reason, aside from geography and accessibility, Bongbongan II should be considered part of Sibalom Burutlakan, not of Sibalom Aminhan. The farmers of Bontol, Indag-an and Luna have long had an alliance called Bontol-Indag-an-Luna Irrigators' Association (BILI); additionally, those barangays, unlike Pis-anan, are part of the Protected Area Management Board of the Sibalom Natural Park; and so most of the adults in Indag-an have more affinity toward those in Bontol and in Luna than toward those in Pis-anan; for this reason, aside from geography, Indag-an should be considered part of Sibalom Habagatnan-Burutlakan, not of Sibalom Habagatnan. Most of the adults in Catungan IV spent their elementary school years at Catungan III and IV Elementary School, so those adults have more affinity toward the adults in Catungan III than those in Odiong; for this reason, aside from geography, Catungan IV should be considered part of Sibalom Habagatnan-Saralpan, not of Sibalom Saralpan.

In a municipal team sports competition wherein participation is per barangay, poblacion barangays tend to dominate because of their population, and because the residents there have easy access to many facilities and opportunities regarding sports. In municipal men's basketball competitions wherein participation was per barangay, teams from the poblacion have always qualified for the semifinals, such that it was always expected that the first place-winning team would come from the poblacion. But if several neighboring outside-of-the-poblacion barangays would be grouped together, they would be able to come up with a team which would be able to compete well with teams from the poblacion. If men's basketball were the only team event in the Sirinipal sa Sibalom, that is, if the other events were individual ones, it would have been reasonable to let each poblacion barangay stand as a separate delegation. But the Sirinipal sa Sibalom consists of some other teams events, as well as individual ones, and many players would be needed by each delegation, so each poblacion barangay would have a hard time standing on its own. And so, after consulting a few youth leaders, including those from the poblacion, District 1 and District 2 were combined, and the same was done to District 3 and District 4. Incidentally, the poblacion can be divided into an upper part and a lower part.

Dividing Sibalom into eight areas regarding the envisioned Sirinipal sa Sibalom will make any of the activity's team events exciting and low-cost -- exciting because the teams from outside of the poblacion will be able to compete well with those from within it, and low-cost because there will be at most eight teams only.

By ensuring that a municipal team sports competition is exciting, people will enjoy it more, and by ensuring that it is low-cost, more sports can be promoted and more sports competitions can be organized.

More sports being promoted and more sports competitions being organized mean more developmental opportunities, and the more developmental opportunities, the better. The availability of developmental opportunities in a place is directly related to the quality of life in it, and promoting the availability of more developmental opportunities in Sibalom means making the municipality a better place in which to live.

Note: The first draft of this article was written on July 6, 2013, and was revised several times, the last one on December 1, 2020, the second to the last one on January 22, 2019, the third to the last one on June 20, 2018, the fourth to the last one on July 2, 2018, the fifth to the last one on June 10, 2017, the sixth to the last one on June 15, 2017, the seventh to the last one on May 27, 2017, the eighth to the last one on November 5, 2016, and the ninth to the last one on August 5, 2016. In the first draft, each of the four poblacion barangays was considered a separate area, but later in the same year, after consulting a few youth leaders, it was decided that District 1 and District 2 should be combined, and that the same should be done to District 3 and District 4, because, as stated in the article, each poblacion barangay would have a hard time standing on its own. The envisioned Sirinipal sa Sibalom will have 28 events, including men's football in which each team would need to have 11-14 players, and each poblacion barangay does not have enough football-playing residents to form a football team.

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Purpose of the Association

The association exists to make Sibalom a better place in which to live.

The association helps develop and harness the municipality's intellectual capital -- especially regarding the youth -- by conducting chess competitions and other activities which contribute to the well-being of the Sibalomnons and promote voluntary public service among them.

The association serves as a think tank regarding community development, and has a seat in the Sibalom Natural Park Protected Area Management Board. The association, as its unique selling point proposition goes, promotes good moves on and beyond the chess board.

History of the Association

One morning in January 1997, during a break in the West Visayan Meet 1997 chess competition which was being conducted at the Evelio B. Javier - Upland Development Program office in Binirayan, three Sibalomnons -- Lily Cervera-Ortiaga, Agaton R. Grasparil III and Ludgero D. Magdaug Jr. -- huddled and talked about forming a "chess club" in Sibalom to boost the chances of success of Sibalomnon chess players in the West Visayan Meet.

Mrs. Ortiaga was there as the coach of Von Steven who was Antique's elementary school boys' chess board one player; Agaton was there to watch the performance of Von Steven whom he had trained for the competition; and Ludgero was there as Antique's high school boys' chess board one player.

Agaton eventually persuaded the two not to adopt the term "chess club" because it sounded exclusive.

Weeks later, it was decided that the term "Sibalom Chess Federation" be adopted, and to conduct the first general assembly of Sibalomnon chess players on April 5, 1997 because most likely, no school-related activity would be conducted on that date.

Agaton made a poster about the general assembly and made photocopies of the poster, with Mrs. Ortiaga shouldering the photocopying expenses. He pasted the posters at different parts of the Poblacion of Sibalom.

The general assembly was held at the Sibalom LNB Hall -- then called the Sibalom ABC Hall -- in the afternoon of the stated date but was attended by only seven people -- Agaton, Mrs. Ortiaga, Von Steven, Jerry P. Sermeno, Ariel A. Cervera, Celcon A. Aguilar and Richard C. Garcia.

Within the ensuing few weeks, it was decided that instead of the name "Sibalom Chess Federation," the name "Sibalom Chess Association" be adopted because the word "federation" refers to a group that is composed of groups, and the group that had been formed was composed merely of individuals.

Before the holding of the association's first event -- the 1997 Sibalom Youth Chess Tournament -- any chess-playing Sibalomnon who expressed interest in joining the association was taken in as a member. Starting with that event, however, a Sibalomnon could become a member of the association only upon joining one of its events. Exceptions to this mode of becoming a member was given to Wennie Joy C. Bacay who was invited by the association in 2005, to Easy Porca who was invited by the association in 2015, and to Marc Joseph Mateo who was invited by the association in 2018, all to serve as goodwill ambassadors.

Since the early days of the association, it has adopted the policy of giving awards to the top 10 -- and not just to the top three -- players in a major event. This policy was based on the observation -- and on a finding as published in the book "In Search of Excellence" -- that people are more inspired to perform better if the rewards for desirable performance are easier to get.

In 1998, it was decided that the events be worded in Kinaray-a to help protect the language in the face of globalization.

Also in 1998, an event of the association ended in a barangay outside of the poblacion for the first time. The event was the 1998 Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom, and the barangay was Tigbalua I.

In 1999, through a letter dated December 9 of that year, the association made three suggestions to the Municipal Council of Sibalom -- the declaration of the public land between the river and the Poblacion as the Sibalom Riverside Park, the construction of concrete boundary posts between the riverside public land and the private land in the Poblacion, and the establishment of the a municipal tree-planting day. Only the third suggestion was accepted, and 13 months later, or in January 2001, the municipal council declared the last Friday of June as the municipal tree-planting day of Sibalom. The riverside park as an idea will be revived later as the binit-suba nga paratawhayan.

In 2002, the association, partly because of its environmental significance, was given a seat by then Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez in the Sibalom Natural Park Protected Area Management Board of the .

In 2005, the association was recognized by the National Youth Commission as one of the 10 accomplished youth groups in the Visayas.

In 2007, Joseph Alvin C. Regacho and Agaton determined the host-barangays of future editions, up to 2044, of the two annual tournaments of the association then -- the Pangpamatan-un nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom (an under-22 tournament which was initially called Sibalom Youth Chess Tournament), and the Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom (an age-open tournament which was initially called Sibalom Chess Tournament). The order of hosting was slightly modified by Agaton several years later.

In 2012, the association began to have an additional annual tournament -- the Pangbata nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom (an under-13 tournament) which had been planned as early as 2006. Editions of the tournament are held in different barangays of the poblacion on rotation basis. Like in the two other annual tournaments of the association, the participants in the Pangbata nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom were given free lunch that features kadyus-baboy-langka (KBL); a tree-planting activity follows the awarding of prizes; each of the winners are given a bundle of fresh fruits; each of the participants are given a fruit tree seedling; and the first placer is given a live native chicken as an additional prize.

If an edition of the Pangpamatan-un nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom or of the Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom lasts for two or more days, it usually starts in the poblacion and ends in a barangay outside of it, and if the edition lasts for only a day which is usually the case, the edition is conducted entirely in a barangay outside of the poblacion.

In 2016, the association began to have two additional annual tournaments -- the Pang-angda nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Imparayan, and the Pang-agda nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Villafont.

In 2017, the association began to have four additional annual tournaments -- the Pang-angda nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Nagdayao, the Pang-angda nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Igsuming, the Pang-angda nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Bari, and the Pang-angda nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Catmon.

Also in 2017, the association decided to use "sinipal" instead of "torneyo," because "sinipal" is a native term and connotes fun while "torneyo" is merely the Kinaray-a spelling of the Spanish term "torneo" and connotes seriousness, and so "Pangbata nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom" became "Pangbata nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Sibalom," "Pangpamatan-un nga Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom" became "Pangpamatan-un nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Sibalom," "Torneyo kang Chess sa Sibalom" became "Sinipal kang Chess sa Sibalom," and so on.

In 2018, the association began to have five additional tournaments -- the Pang-agda nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Pis-anan, the Pang-agda nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Lagdo, the Pang-agda nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Sido, the Pang-agda nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Cubay Sermon, and the Bukas nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Cubay Sermon (a tournament which can be participated in by non-Sibalomnons, although their participation does not mean that they will become members of the association).

Also in 2018, the association changed the name of its parliament from "Council" to "Kadumarahan," and its official "dapli" from KBL to vegetables.

This 2019, the association began to have two additional annual tournaments -- the Pang-angda nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Panlagangan, and the Pang-agda nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Igpanolong.

Also this 2019, the association will begin to have an additional annual tournament -- the Pang-angda nga Sinipal kang Chess sa Millamena.

The association’s current unique selling proposition (USP), "Promoting good moves on and beyond the chess board," is reflective of its significance, considering that the association conducts chess competitions, has a seat in the Sibalom Natural Park Protected Area Management Board, and is serving as a think tank regarding community development. The USP of the association before that was "Promoting youth development," considering that playing chess is intellectually beneficial, and also considering that the association promotes the development of the Sibalomnon youth, especially regarding leadership and project management. The association's previous USP's had similar meanings.

The association, being a non-profit organization, does not endorse political candidates but promotes developmental ideas which jibe with its policies and practices.

Composition of the Association

The association is composed of 356 members who come from 48 barangays. Those barangays are the following: Lacaron, Cabariuan, Biga-a, Villar, Cadoldolan, Esperanza II, Sido, Tulatula, Nagdayao, Tigbalua I, Insarayan, Egaña, Cubay Napultan, District I, District II, District III, Catmon, Bari, District IV, Iglanot, Maasin, Cabladan, Millamena, Cubay Sermon, Pis-anan, Pantao, Ilabas, Imparayan, Pangpang, Esperanza I, Panlagangan, Odiong, Alangan, Esperanza III, Solong, Catungan II, Villahermosa, San Juan, Igpanolong, Olaga, Igsuming, Catungan III, Catungan IV, Villafont, Tigbalua II, Bongbongan I, Lagdo, and Igdalaquit.