Anak TV’s little contribution to heritage and sports got off to a good rousing start in Marikina
and New Lucena, Iloilo with ace actor Ricky Davao.

Ricky read the declaration signed by a motley group of town and city mayors who threw their unequivocal support to the campaign to win back Filipino children from television and computers and bring them into the streets to play well loved games like patintero, tumbang preso and piko.

Each outing featured a guest celebrity who brought his or her style of winning the local crowds. There was never room for primadonna behavior and each staging of final matches in every city was the envy of politicians and events managers. There were crowds, there was full media complement.

Drinks and prizes were aplenty. Music blared and the whole town swoops down to participate. And there was celebrity.

In Iloilo, Ted Failon and Mike Enriquez warmed the crowd despite the typhoon and floods. The rival anchors sat chummily beside each other and there was no hint of the fierce competition one discerns on primetime TV.

In Tagum, GMA singing star Harry Santos was a delightful draw, especially among the shrieking teeners.

Warbler Eva Castillo brought her poignant story and fabled singing voice to Butuan while Gloc 9 literally brought the house down in Davao. The humid and stuffy gym was rendered even steamier when the rapper took to the stage and every kid sang and danced with him.

Kalibo fell in love with upcoming star Marvin Ong while Unang Hirit’s Arn Arn, minus Arnold Clavio, gamely sparred with a local radio disc jock in rainy Olongapo.

Edu Manzano, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski and a few more are slated in future editions of Larolympics, their busy schedules permitting. The regional finals are being blueprinted and a major to do is scheduled in Santiago, Isabela soon.

What gratifies everyone in the project is how, with little cajoling and no mention of fees, these well loved celebrities find time to pay back the communities that have catapulted them. At the end of the day, they leave the halls with a fulfilled feeling that they have done a bit of heroism for the Pinoy child by getting him to spend more hours socializing and playing.