Team Sikatuna dominates the Bohol leg of the 2008 DBP Interisland Race

The island province of Bohol is a tourist’s paradise, with its many natural and historical attractions, including the lush Chocolate Hills, the pristine Panglao Island, tarsier sanctuaries, the Blood Compact memorial, and the Baclayon Church.

Team Sikatuna

Bohol served as the first stop in “Ready-Set-RORO” DBP Interisland Race – Year 3, an action-packed P1M adventure race. The Development Bank of the Philippines kicked off the opening festivities with a a motorcade and a brief program to be graced by Mayor Dan Neri Lim and DBP president and chief executive officer Reynaldo G. David. Competing teams will be presented, followed by the ceremonial flag-off, blessing of the teams, and opening games for the public.

The ten teams embarked on the first leg of a rigorous series of challenges that will test the brain, brawn, and mettle of 10 teams as they go on a treasure hunt for products of national pride, while conquering mental and physical challenges throughout the race.

Team Tamaraw – Siblings Rayn and Tina Yu with Arron Villaflor

From the opening ceremonies at Rizal Plaza, teams were given their first clue – to commute to the DBP office in Tagbilaran. From Tagbilaran, multi-cabs (the local tricycles in Bohol) were waiting to take them to the Alona Kew White Beach Resort in Panglao Island. Upon reaching the beach, the teams were handed their next clue: dig, kayak and swim, wherein they had to collect three puzzle pieces that will form their next clue towards the pit stop at the Blood Compact Monument.

Team Mayon – Newlyweds Jenny and Nitoi Vilaflor with Rainier Castillo

Teams rallied towards the pit stop but Team Sikatuna proved their homecourt advantage as homeboys Ian Caingat and Rasm Mendez with celebrity racer Jen Rosendahl made it first to the pit stop, followed by Team Apo ( Cams Lozano and Kynz Flores with Beatriz Saw) and Team Narra (Will Nocom and Super Perez with Ryza Cenon). Team Mayon actually arrived second at the pit stop, but had to go back to retrieve a missing clue at Alona Kew, bringing them down to last place. Fortunately, the first leg is a non-elimination leg, so Team Mayon will continue to race on.

“It’s a good start for our team,” says Rosendahl of Team Sikatuna, “although there is a bit of pressure to perform even better in the succeeding legs. The competition is fierce; teams that we didn’t expect to finish early were right behind us, and we saw that we can’t underestimate them.”

Race director Ige Lopez states, “You can see there are definitely some strong contenders, but at Leg 1, it’s hard to tell. It’s still anybody’s ball game.”

Getting Ready for the Big Race

For the next leg, teams will be released in the order by which they arrived at the pit stop, with 2-minute intervals. The adventure continues in Cebu, as the 10 teams continue on their quest to bag the prizes at stake: P1-million (grand prize); P500,000 (1st runner-up); and P300,000 (2nd runner up). Non-winning teams will not go home empty-handed, as they will receive P25,000 each.

For race updates, or to vote for your favorite teams, log on to www.dbprororace2008.com

Philippine Travel Blog is an official online media Partner of DBP Interisland Race 2008. Check out more photos of DBP Interisland Race 2008 here.