Heroes murals painting revs up

June 6, 2022 Metro BLISTT

He came, he saw, he painted. With a vicious kick from former Asian Games wushu sanda silver medalist Jean Claude Saclag, the Heroes Wall of Fame sojourn of Team Lakay fighter Harold Banario started.
It was all in brown in a sea of white that serves as background that kicked off Banario’s 10 mural work in the 32-athlete Heroes mural series at the Baguio athletic bowl.
“Habol ako (I will try to catch up),” said the former Brave Championship fighter Banario, who campaigned for his dad Dario, Sr. for the top seat in Mankayan, Batangas, and won after losing in the 2019 polls. And with one vicious kick-off, the martial arts portion of the Wall of Fame started.
Banario is tasked to paint 10 athletes who are into combative sports.
Then it is the karate kid Edgar Kapawen in kata pose and then the cousins Roland and Sharon Dino, nephew and niece of two time Olympian Gerry Dino, whose likeness was painted by Gladys Ann Labsan at the long dugout at the bottom of the Baguio athletic bowl grandstand.
Banario is tasked to paint former karate champion Rey Hilario, judoka and now sambo fighter Helen Dawa, wushu sanda’s Mark Eddiva and Rhea May Rifani, now a Baguio City High School teacher, former wushu sanda and now kickboxing fighter Jean Claude Saclag, boxer Alice Kate Aparri and muay Thai legend Brent Velasco.
It was a day long effort for Banario Wednesday finishing his work when it was already dark. “I had to go home because
it was already dark,” said Ged Alangui, whose works are at the tip of the big grandstand. Then Banario came back Thursday to finish the first stage of his painting which he will improve in the next days.
“He is really trying to catch up,” said Alangui, who placed the finishing touches on wushu taolu/taijijian practitioner Daniel Parantac and kurash athlete Estie Gay Liwanen.
“I might be able to finish chess master Hari(das) Pascua and then Kareel (Hongitan) today,” said Alangui, who is tasked to paint those in the allied sports.
Alangui is also set to paint car racers, the father-son tandem Carlos and Inigo Anton, golfer Mars Pucay, volleyball player Majoy Baronb and basketball greats Doug Kramer and Gerry Verzosa.
The two has finally joined Gladys Labsan who has done 10 of the 12 athletes she was tasked to do, eight of them athletes and four sportsmen.
Already in the Labsan walls are Olympic bronze medalists Benjie Rivera and Marian River (wushu sanda), World Boxing Association junior welterweight champion Roberto Cruz, former three time world karate champion Julian Chees, former two time SEAG marathon queen Christabel Martes, former two time SEAG gold medalist Jearome Calica (wuhsu sanda and muay Thai waikru), former Mr. Asia Sammy Ayochok and strongman Nic Domalsin, both are already dead.
Also on her walls are the late Fernando Bautista, Jr. and the late Narcio Padilla, who put into law the incentives of winning athletes.
Labsan and Banario had been part of the Baguio athletic bowl murals since it started in October of 2020 and have done the Legends murals at the long dugout and the Team Lakay gallery of champions, respectively.
The murals are expected to be finished by middle of this month.
Pigeon Lobien/ABN