BAGUIO CITY – Another two city’s pride in sports, Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang and Divine Masadao Wally were recognized Friday, Dec. 9 during the City Hall Employees’ Week celebration.
City officials led by mayor Mauricio Domogan handed Resolution No. 291: commending Folayang and his coach Marquez Sangiao for winning the one Lightweight Champion in the “One Championship 49: Defending Honor” held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang, Singapore last November 11 and Resolution No. 268: commending Wally and her coach Tan Sui Tong “Tony” Candelaria for winning the gold medal in the “8th Sanda World Cup” in Xian, China last Nov. 4 to 6.
Folayang, a mixed martial artist and Wushu practitioner is the reigning welterweight champion of the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) and has won several international Wushu tournaments, including gold medals in the last two South East Asian games, a silver in the 2006 Doha Asian Games and bronze medals in both the 2005 World Wushu Championship and the 2002 Busan Asian Games.
He fought in the main event for the “One Lightweight World Championship Title” under the guidance of coach Sangiao.
He survived dangerous positions in the first round but managed to put an end to the nine-fight winning streak of legendary Japanese fighter Shinya Aoki’s via technical knockout in the third round and took home the lightweight belt.
Stated in the resolution, “his sensational victory and his hard training paid off and has earned him title of the newly minted One Lightweight World Championship kingpin. Folayang is now considered by sports journalists and Filipino spectators as the face of Philippines Mixed Martial Arts. This extraordinary and remarkable feat of Folayang and his coach Sangiao has once again placed the Philippines in the limelight and has brought honor and pride not only to their family but to the city of Baguio as a whole”.
On the other hand, Wally, under the guidance of coach Candelaria made history as the first Filipina to win gold in the 8th World Wushu Championships held at Jakarta, Indonesia last year and she also won a gold medal in the 9th Asian Wushu Championship held in Taoyuan, Taiwan last Sept. 2 to 5 2016.
In the resolution, “Wally being the reigning Wushu Sanda world champion retained her title in the recently concluded 8th Sanda World cup held at Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, china on Nov. 4 to 16 this year”;
“Wally, for leading the country to its best performance in the Wushu Tournament as a member of the Philippine Wushu Team, their feat brought pride and honor not only to their families but also to the country and the city of Baguio placing the city in the glare of publicity once again”./Jho Arranz#
