The University of Baguio will send home 12 student-athletes as far as Visayas and Mindanao after they were stranded in the city since the start of the community quarantine last March.
Six athletes would be brought home to various areas in Luzon while six others would fly home to Davao, Bacolod, and Leyte.
The student-athletes from Davao include table tennis players Luigi Dealco and JM Ortega and boxer Claudin Veloso.
Those from Bacolod are wushu athlete Alexandra Tinosan and boxer Mary IC Sinadjan while wushu player Robina Canon is from Leyte.
UB Athletic Director Alan Elegado said the school has paid for the plane tickets of the six students from the south including their fare to Manila and food allowance for their trips back home.
Elegado said the student-athletes, are part of the last batch of stranded students who would be flying home on June 8.
For three months, the student-athletes were also given relief items and allowance courtesy of the school, which also provided them quarters while other students who are renting were given food packages.
Meanwhile, the student-athletes going home to other parts of Luzon, who are yet to be scheduled are Vince Sibbaluca and Sophia Agra, who play for the men and women’s basketball teams.
Other student-athletes to be sent back home are wushu players John Rey Galantoa and Jethro Camayang and women basketball team member Elisha Bantang from Apayao while Athletics team member Oliver Aviang is from San Fernando, La Union.
The athletic director said the athletes were told to stay put as early as March 12 when classes were suspended but they were not able to go home due to the Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine on March 17.
The other athletes were able to seek help from their respective local government unit officials and private individuals who facilitated their travel back home as early as March 22. – Ofelia C. Empian
