Blue Beach hosts volleyball competition
DAGUPAN CITY – The Tondaligan Blue Beach, once the city’s pride for its long stretch of blue coastline, is being spruced up and is set to regain its status as one of the major destinations in Pangasinan.
It hosted the beach volleyball tournament last Feb. 26-27 of the Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) with an unexpectedly big crowd who stayed until evening to watch the games and enjoy the historic beach. The BVR tournament had 20 teams that competed, 10 each for male and female groups.
Tondaligan Blue Beach, or Bonuan Blue Beach, is the place where Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the American Liberation Forces landed on Jan. 9, 1945 to fulfill the general’s promise “I shall return” at the end of World War II.
BVR is co-founded by former Ateneo Lady Eagles volleybelles and current professional players Charo Soriano, Gretchen Ho, Fille Cainglet-Cayetano, Dzi Gervacio, Bea Tan and former Petron Blaze Spikers player Alexa Micek. It organizes beach volleyball tournaments in different beaches and public places in the country and promotes grassroots development program for young and aspiring players.
Soriano told The STAR that the Blue Beach is ideal for sports tourism. She noted that while the Philippines has 7,100 islands, the potential for such a sporting event like beach volleyball is not being maximized.
“We actually heard about the Bangus (Milkfish) Festival. It’s very famous,” Soriano said, referring to the annual summer festival of this city known as the Bangus Capital, which draws hundreds of thousands of spectators.
Soriano, whose BVR has toured many beautiful beaches across the country for the different competitions, said, “Tondaligan Beach actually is very clean and I like it because the waves are very nice.”
She added, “I think that perhaps, sooner or later, we can actually do surfing here.”
She noted that the beach has a wide stretch and a wide shoreline which is conducive for beach volleyball.
Meanwhile, the Tondaligan Blue Beach is on its way to regaining its beauty. Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez said the new Tondaligan Park that covers the long span of the beach line will feature a mini board walk, children’s park, beach volleyball court, basketball court and uniformed beach sheds. Up for construction are the baywalk, clean rest rooms, shower area, swimming pool and continuous removal of other obstructions.
“We are doing our best to bring back the glory of Tondaligan Blue Beach,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez said part of the P120 million in savings posted by the city government last year will be used initially to cover costs for the rehabilitation plan.